The Golden State Warriors made two key changes before tying the NBA Finals at 2-2 with a 103-82 win in Game 4.

1. They double-teamed LeBron James more and generally tried to make other Cavs players take shots ("You're going to take the chance on [Timofey] Mozgov beating you before you take the chance on LeBron beating you," Draymond Green put it after the game). 

2. They started an extremely small lineup, replacing Andrew Bogut with Andre Iguodala, and played much of the game with the 6'7" Green at center.

That second tweak has been the source of a ton of press in the aftermath of the game. It was Iguodala's first start all year, and it came after coach Steve Kerr explicitly told the media that Bogut would be in the starting five.

While that specific starting lineup didn't blow the doors off Cleveland, it set the tone for the night, and the Warriors were able to win easy behind a wide variety of tiny lineups.

Kerr is getting much of the praise for the lineup change that shifted the series back in his favor, but it was actually a 28-year-old "special assistant" who first gave voice to the idea.

Yahoo's Marc J. Spears wrote a great article about Nick U'Ren, the guy who suggested the Warriors start Iguodala in Game 4. Spears reports that U'Ren — a special assistant to the head coach — told Kerr about his idea after Game 3 at dinner. When it got a pretty dull reaction, he watched a ton of game film and confirmed that this was the way to go. He eventually texted Kerr at 3 a.m. telling him he should start Iguodala:

U'Ren refused to give up on the idea and did more research. He watched the Spurs in the first halves of Games 3 and 4 of last year's Finals. He began to believe even stronger that if the Warriors went small like the Spurs it would work well against Cleveland. After [assistant coach Luke Walton] also embraced the idea, U'Ren sent Kerr a text at about 3 a.m. on Thursday suggesting Iguodala replace Bogut in the starting lineup.

"I just explained that they started Diaw instead of Splitter and starting Andre is something to consider," U'Ren said. "We wanted to tell him in time to watch the film for himself and make the decision."

U'Ren broke into the NBA as an assistant video coordinator with the Phoenix Suns in 2009, when Kerr was the general manager. After Kerr was hired in Golden State last summer, he brought in U'Ren as a special assistant.

He told Spears that while he pushed for the idea, all credit goes to Kerr for actually listening to a 28-year-old and rolling with it.

"Steve deserves all of the credit because he has to live and die with the consequences. It's easy to make a suggestion, but he has to make a decision," he said.

With the series tied 2-2, the Warriors are now back in the driver's seat. If they ultimately go on to win this series, as they're now expected to do, we'll look at those Game 4 tweaks as the turning point.

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Despite offering his resignation earlier this month, FIFA president Sepp Blatter is reportedly considering remaining at the head of soccer’s international governing body, according to Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag.

Michael Hershman, FIFA’s former governance adviser, hinted earlier this month that Blatter could reconsider, telling ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap that he wasn’t sure Blatter would actually step down. 

In its story on Saturday, the Swiss paper reported that a source close to Blatter said the embattled president had gotten“messages of support from African and Asian football associations” that requested he reevaluate the decision to leave office.

During Blatter’s nearly 20-year tenure, FIFA has dedicated funding and other attention to football associations throughout Africa and Asia, regions from where much of his support in presidential balloting has come.

The 79-year-old announced his resignation after a series of surprising indictments and were handed down by US courts against a number of current and former officials in connection to a $150 million bribery scheme related to FIFA’s finances and the awarding of tournaments, including World Cups, to member nations and organizations. Many of them were arrested in late May.

Blatter himself was not named in any of the indictments. He was elected to a fifth term just two days after the charges and arrests were made. 

FIFA plans to pick a date for a new presidential election in July, and members of the European Parliament have called on the Blatter to leave office sooner rather than later.

However, as ESPN notes, it is not clear who among those trying to take Blatter’s office could earn a majority of voters.

While Blatter himself was not named in the probe, some officials close to him were. US officials reportedly believe that Jerome Valcke, Blatter’s chief deputy, sent a $10 million bribe to former FIFA official Jack Warner.

Valcke has denied the charge and is yet to be formally accused.

Warner, who has been charged, has criticized the investigation and is fighting extradition from Trinidad and Tobago.

SEE ALSO: Indicted former FIFA VP actually cited an Onion article to defend himself

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Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters Tournament in 2005. On the 16th hole in his final round, he sank a chip shot from the right rough in the most iconic moment of his career. In a new interview with Golf Digest, Tiger's caddie Steve Williams revealed some details behind the shot that make it look even more incredible.

At the time Woods had a one-stroke lead over his playing partner, Chris DiMarco, whom Tiger would eventually beat in a playoff. DiMarco had 15 feet for birdie while Woods had hit his tee shot on the par-3 into the rough.

CBS commentator Lanny Wadkins called it "one of the toughest pitches on the entire [course]" and speculated that because of the thicker rough sitting just behind Tiger's ball, he would have a hard time getting the ball within 15 feet of the hole. There was also the threat of having the ball roll off the green and into the bunker.

Woods got the ball up in the air, it landed on the hill, slowly rolled down to the hole where it rested on the edge for a moment ... and then fell in for a birdie with commentator Verne Lundquist yelling, "OH WOW!" (1:20 mark of this video).

When Tiger recalled the shot, he spoke about remembering a similar shot made in a previous year by Davis Love III and needing to aim for a strip of light in between the shadows. But Woods' former caddie says there was more to it than that.

In an interview with Golf Digest, Williams says Tiger was actually aiming for an old ball mark the size of a dime and that he hit it perfectly on the fly.

"There's more to that Tiger hole-out than you probably know. After Tiger inspected the green and was walking back to his ball, he pointed out an old ball mark on the green. It was the size of a dime, almost fully healed, practically invisible. He said, 'You think if I hit that spot, it'll take the slope without going into the bunker?' ... I told him I liked that play. He then hit that old ball mark exactly, from 20 feet away from a tough lie. That the ball went in the hole was sort of a miracle, but hitting the old ball mark on the fly was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

Fighting for the lead with three holes to play in the biggest tournament in the world and Woods hits a bulls-eye under terrible conditions.

Incredible.

10 years ago, Tiger Woods holed out on No. 16 in dramatic fashion. Watch this historic shot from a different angle. https://t.co/5bnny62LBO

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 5, 2015

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The Golden State Warriors won a critical Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. But after the game, LeBron James made it clear that he still had confidence.

At his news conference, LeBron was asked whether he felt less pressure in this series compared with previous years because his team was missing key players because of injuries.

LeBron responded in a simple deadpan manner, "Nah, I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world, it's simple" (via NBA TV).

The comment is interesting in light of James' recent comment that he had "some other motivation" to win this year's championship, with some speculating that the motivation was losing the NBA MVP award to Stephen Curry.

This was also reminiscent of when James was asked after the series against the Chicago Bulls what he felt like being the underdog. At that time, James seemed almost offended that somebody would ever consider him an underdog.

Of course, James and his rag-tag collection of healthy teammates are the underdogs in Game 6, and they are going to need a Superman-like performance from LeBron to force a Game 7.

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In this excerpt from "Slaying the Tiger," Shane Ryan recounts watching Tiger Woods during the The Cadillac Championship in 2014. Ryan says it was "like watching the final act of a legend."

Doral, Florida, is a charmless, monotonous lump of a city that blends in my mem­ory with the rest of Florida, but Donald Trump's Blue Monster course isn't half bad.

It's a difficult track, with lots of water and a wide diversity of trees—bischofias, java plums, oaks, strangler figs with their veiny, in­tertwined trunks, and palms everywhere—and as you make your way down the attractive fairways, you can almost forget that you're in the middle of a suburban hellscape.

As it happened, Tiger had bigger problems that afternoon than his unwanted protégé—he could barely cope with himself.

Off the first tee, Tiger yanked his drive to the right and took out an unsuspecting German tourist with a direct hit to the head. You could hear the cries ahead, and by the time I hustled up to the scene of the carnage, he was an awful bloody mess—his white shirt stained red, bloody rags littering the ground around him, and no medic in sight.

He was curled up on himself, and Tiger walked over and pretended to be sympathetic as he counted the moments until he could continue his round and let actual trained professionals do their job.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, shades still on, as the man rocked back and forth in a daze. Tiger gave him a signed glove and moved on.

It sounds convenient to say this now, but I swear I could feel Tiger's power ebbing with each hole.

After his Sunday withdrawal a week ear­lier, the chinks in his armor had grown suddenly visible, widening with alarming speed until you looked at him and could see only vulnerabil­ity.

He wasn't alone. There were other signs of generational change, too—on Friday, Phil Mickelson made three straight double bogeys, and after the round, when Golf Channel's Jason Sobel asked him when he'd last had a stretch that bad, he snapped back with, "Four hours ago." Even Jim Furyk, the ageless wonder, had opened with 78-77-75 to fade to the bottom of the leaderboard.

I knew I had to stay with Tiger, at least for nine holes, to watch this bizarre scene play out. It didn't take long—on the third, his drive hooked left, back into the gallery, and hit another spectator just below his jaw. Unlike the bleeding German, this victim—maybe twenty years old, American, male—couldn't have been more pleased at the new throbbing bump on the side of his neck. 

Tiger, who by now was run­ning perilously low on gloves, signed another and gave it away. "Can I get a pic?" the kid asked, but that was more than Tiger was willing to abide. He stalked away from the gallery, his round going to shit, and promptly smashed his next shot into the water.

It got worse from there, although he managed to spare his fans any more violence. He re-aggravated his back injury while hitting out of a bunker on six, suffered spasms throughout the rest of his round, and limped in with a 78, falling to 25th place.

He left Doral that day and spent the next weeks trying to rest and get ready for the Masters. Gradually, though, the pain from the nerve impingement got worse—he experienced shooting sensations down his leg, as well as numbness in the extremities, and in the end it was difficult to even get out of bed.

Tiger is a stubborn man, but even he realized that this back prob­lem wasn't going away. He was left with no choice—he opted for a microdisectomy on the last day of March. It was the same surgery Gra­ham DeLaet, a much younger man, had undergone in 2011.

DeLaet didn't start hitting balls for four months, and it took him a year to fully recover. Woods, on the other hand, couldn't make himself wait three months before he was playing competitive rounds, and he paid the price for his haste—the rest of his year was a disaster, and cast serious doubt as to whether he could ever return to his previous form.

Tiger would be back, and maybe one day he'll rediscover his great­ness, but that Sunday at Trump National, it felt like we were watching the final act of a legend.

Excerpted from "Slaying the Tiger" by Shane Ryan Copyright © 2015 by Shane Ryan. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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The Golden State Warriors came up with a critical Game 5 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday to take a 3-2 series lead in the NBA Finals.

In Game 5, the Warriors' series-changing adjustment — a small-ball lineup— forced the Cavaliers to match up with them, and it changed the tone of the game.

After 7-foot-1 center Timofey Mozgov dominated with 28 points and 10 rebounds in a Game 4 loss, Cavs coach David Blatt benched Mozgov for most of Game 5. Despite his size advantage, Mozgov couldn't keep up with 6-foot-7 Draymond Green at center, and Blatt made the decision to go small, moving 6-foot-9 Tristan Thompson to center and LeBron James to power forward for most of the game.

Mozgov started but played just nine minutes and scored zero points. LeBron James delivered another 40-point triple-double and Thompson played well with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the adjustment didn't have quite the intended effect.

While the game was close until late in the fourth quarter, the Cavs' offense never quite took off, and by the end of the 104-91 Cleveland loss, James and Thompson looked notably fatigued from playing huge minutes. In the second half, the Cavs' offensive rating plummeted to 88.4, while the Warriors' shot up to 107.9 — nearly a 20-point difference.

Moving Mozgov to the bench also took away one of the Cavs' greatest strengths over the Warriors: their size and rebounding advantage. For the entire series, the Cavs have outrebounded the Warriors and given themselves more scoring opportunities by grabbing offensive boards. The Cavs were winning games partly because they were forcing their size on the Warriors and grinding out possessions, which doesn't suit the Warriors' style of play. In Game 5, however, the Warriors outrebounded the Cavs by six. In the fourth quarter, Golden State came up with several key offensive rebounds that burned off time the Cavs needed to try to mount a comeback.

Blatt was asked about the adjustment after the game and seemed defensive about the decision to sit Mozgov:

Q. Steve Kerr just told us this is not a series for big guys. And going again to the Timofey Mozgov thing, are you going to stay playing not big basketball, or after the circumstances and the result of the game, are you trying to do something different? Because it didn't pay much result tonight, if you think?

COACH BLATT: And how did it do the game before?

Q. He was the best scorer, but you didn't use him tonight.

COACH BLATT: What was the score of the game?

Q. You guys lost the game again.

COACH BLATT: Yeah, by more.

Q. Can could you explain why you didn't use him? Twenty-eight points last game, and no points tonight?

COACH BLATT: I thought I was pretty clear I thought that was our best chance to win the game, and we were definitely in the game with a chance to win. So that's the way we played it. So I thought I was pretty clear with that.

The lineup experiment didn't fail the Cavs, but it did make their weaknesses more pronounced. Though they matched up better with the Warriors in terms of speed, sitting Mozgov took away their size advantage, gave them fewer rebounds, and made a short rotation even shorter.

Blatt faces a tough task in trying to keep up with the Warriors' adjustments. It will be interesting to see whether Blatt — facing elimination in Game 6 — decides to keep Mozgov in the game and battle the Warriors' strength (speed and spacing on offense) with the Cavaliers' own (size and rebounding) or whether he thinks the first three quarters of Game 5 were enough proof the Cavs can win by going small against the Warriors.

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Bengie Molina has been through it all. He played in the major leagues from 1998 to 2014, winning two World Series titles along the way with the Anaheim Angels in 2002 and the San Francisco Giants in 2010.

To be fair, he was on the Texas Rangers when the Giants won the World Series in 2010, but because he had been traded from the Giants earlier in the season, he managed to win by default. 

Though Molina's numbers weren't ground-breaking, he was an integral part of the team both on the field and off.

He was the guy who called games behind home plate for 16 years, winning two Gold Gloves as a catcher in 2002 and 2003.

His career batting average is .274, with 144 home runs and 711 runs batted in. He was a steadying influence on teams that played together as one, rather than a hodgepodge of superstars and big contract guys.

Bengie Molina's story is unique, not only because of him, but because of his younger brothers — José and Yadier. All of them are familiar with only one position: catcher.

They are the only three brothers in league history to each win World Series rings. José won it with the 2002 Angels and the 2009 Yankees, and Yadier won it with the 2006 and 2011 Cardinals. Yadier, the winner of seven consecutive Gold Gloves, is considered one of the best catchers in the game and finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2012.

Each brother has forged their own path to the league, but, as Bengie puts it, it never would've happened without the sacrifices of their father and mother, who raised them in Buyámon, Puerto Rico and helped them stay on track, in school and on the field. 

We sat down with Bengie to hear his thoughts on his upcoming autobiography, his views on how the game has changed over the years, and the best pitchers he's ever caught for. 

• His thoughts on baseball's new change of pace rules: "I don’t agree with it because we’re supposed to do it on our own. We’re baseball players. We don’t need guys telling us, ‘Hey, you need to hurry. Hey, you need to do this. Hey, you need to step up.’ We are professionals, we can do that without anybody telling us. I’m OK with it, but we need to do it on our own."
• The best pitchers he ever caught for: "Roy Halladay is probably on the top of my list. Tim Lincecum is the other. Obviously, I’ve caught for so many good ones, but those two stand out in my mind."
• The teams with the best chance to win the World Series: "My first pick would be the Cardinals, for sure. I think the Nationals have a good team, same with the Dodgers. That’s it for the National League. In the American League, it’s hard to pick. Kansas City has a great shot at it, the Angels have a great shot if they can pitch, and I think those are the guys that have a great shot. "

Here's a transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.

BUSINESS INSIDER: Can you go in depth about how your family — especially your dad — was he the driving force in helping you and your brothers reach the MLB?

BENGIE MOLINA: The reason that happened was that my dad and my mom had to sacrifice so much, and had to teach us and show us the way of going about things, how to be humble, all those things. They helped us stay on track for what we wanted to do. After that — hard work, dedication, motivation, all had to do with it, because you have to have that to succeed. I think that’s really what made it happen for us. 

BI: When you were younger and still aspired to be in the big leagues, how many hours a day did you play baseball?

BM: We went to school — we weren’t out there all day. We weren’t just in the field. We went to school and when school was over every day from 5 PM to 9 o’clock — 4 hours. When we didn’t have classes on Saturdays and Sundays we had doubleheaders. And when we had vacations or days when we didn’t practice or it was raining, we’d play baseball on the streets. We’d take a ball and a broomstick and just play ball. So, we were always playing baseball. It was in our blood. That’s the only way to put it.

BI: What was it like playing in your first MLB game?

BM: It was very nerve-wracking. I was very nervous — not only because I was in the major leagues and this is what I wanted — but the thought of what happens next. You want to do so well so fast and if you don’t do well fast you might lose your chance. That’s what was in my head. So I was very nervous, excited, and happy to be given the opportunity to even be in the major leagues.

BI: What does it take for a player in today’s game to have a long and successful career?

BM: You have to have dedication, you have to show respect. You have to have respect not only for the game but yourself and what you do. You have to have a lot of motivation, a lot of heart and be able to work hard. You can never be down on yourself because baseball is a sport that will bring you down [at times]. If you have that will to survive and make it, the will to come back and try again, you need that if you want to make it.

BI: What are your thoughts on baseball’s new change of pace rules?

BM: I don’t agree with it, but I accept it. I don’t agree with it because we’re supposed to do it on our own. We’re baseball players. We don’t need guys telling us, ‘Hey, you need to hurry. Hey, you need to do this. Hey, you need to step up..’ We are professionals, we can do that without anybody telling us. I’m OK with it, but we need to do it on our own.

BI: Do you think the new change of pace rules diminish the potential of some of the players?

BM: Not all of them, because not all of them care. But the ones who are worried about it and care about it, those who worry about being late — yeah, they’re going to be bothered by it. And they’re going to be rushed, and it might hurt their game. But the ones that don’t care — they just want to be out there and want to perform. They don’t care what anybody else says.

BI: Who is the player you most enjoyed playing with?

BM: Oh, wow. I’ve played with so many great ones. I liked playing with David Eckstein (former Angels shortstop). I’m not talking about players with top skills, I’m sure there were players with way more skill than him, but there were very few people in the league that had the heart like him. Not only on the field but off of it as well, helping others. He helped us [his teammates] succeed.

BI: Who was the most skilled player you ever played with?

BM: It’s hard for me to pick one because I’ve played with so many. I’ve played with Darin Erstad. I’ve played with Garret Anderson. They were true professionals. [Troy] Percival is a closer I played with, Tim Salmon — I played with those guys, too. I also went to Toronto and played with Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Vernon Wells, and Troy Glaus. When I went to San Francisco I played with Barry Bonds and all those pitchers — Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain. They were winners. I went to Texas and I had a chance to play with Vladi [Vladimir] Guerrero, who was one of my favorite players. There are so many of them it’s just hard to pick one.

BI: You mentioned Barry Bonds as one of the best players you ever played with. Do you think players who are accused of taking steroids should have a chance to be in the Hall of Fame?

BM: If they were found to be guilty of using steroids, I’d tell you right now that they shouldn’t because they don’t deserve it, for the respect of the others that have been there. On the other hand, if they haven’t been found guilty and don’t have any proof, I don’t see why not. 

BI: You played in the MLB for 16 years. How did you manage to stay in the game for so long? Did you have a workout routine?

BM: When I got to the stadium, one of my biggest things was watching video of hitters. That was one of my biggest things. I watched video of hitters and opposing pitchers because I have to get ready for pitchers like Kershaw. I got to the field around 1, and I started by getting in the hot tub and cold tub to try and relax my body. Some days, I would workout in the gym, and then I’d hit the bike for 20 minutes. After the bike I’d stretch my legs and my back for a little bit. After that I did some BP [batting practice] for some extra hitting. Then, after BP I got something to eat. Once I got done eating, about 45 minutes before the game, I got my lineup and their lineup in front of me, put my music on, sit down on the floor, start stretching, and just watch the lineup and think to myself, ‘What am I going to do with these guys?’

After the game, I’d go into a cold tub just to get my body relaxed and then stretch, do another 20 minutes of bike, and go home. That was my routine.

 BI: What are your thoughts on the 162 game season in the MLB? Do you think it’s just right where it is, or should it be shortened?

BM: I think it’s right. I think it’s pretty good. I mean, nobody is getting overworked and in my opinion, I think everything is fine.

BI: Who's the best pitcher you ever caught for?

BM: I have a few. Roy Halladay is probably on the top of my list. Tim Lincecum is the other. Obviously, I’ve caught for so many good ones, but those two stand out in my mind.

Roy Halladay stands out because of the pitcher he was and the way he went at it, how he never backed down. The way he’d attack the hitter — he wanted them to hit it instead. Sometimes, he’d tell me ‘Put it right in the middle and I’ll throw it quick and make them hit it.’ That was something I liked. Lincecum, I liked his power. When I first got there he was throwing 98 [mph], 97 [mph]. He had a nasty split [splitter], and I really enjoyed catching for him because we made a lot of people look bad.

And another guy who I loved to catch for when I first came up was Chuck Finley. He was a lefty for the Angels. He was one of my favorites, because wherever I put the glove, he would hit it. It was so easy to call the game for that guy. I wasn’t afraid of calling any pitch because I knew he could execute it.

BI: What's the relationship between you and your brothers like?

BM: I think my mom and dad did a great job with that, because we never had any competition in baseball. We always tried to help each other. Yadier, being as young as he was, he would always say, ‘You gotta do this. You gotta do that. You gotta stay back. They’re throwing a fastball next.’ Things like that. We never had a competition other than Nintendo or things like that. We wanted to win at things like basketball games or baseball games, but off the field we never felt like we had to compete with each other.

BI: Are there any guys you played against who you didn’t particularly like?

BM: No, I’m a pretty easygoing guy. I’m not hard to get along with. I never had anybody that I had trouble with. On the other team, sometimes you don’t like players because of the way they act, but then you get to know them and then they’re very good people. But I never disliked anybody.

BI: There was a recent ESPN story about how some players wear their emotions on their sleeve when they celebrate, while others take that celebration as an offense. Do you think baseball players should wear their emotions on their sleeves? 

BM: That’s a very easy question to answer. If you’re a pitcher, and you’re pitching and you strike me out and you start celebrating on the mound and showing me off, whenever I get a hit off you, I’m going to go and celebrate, and you shouldn’t get mad. If you’re a pitcher and strike me out and show me respect and you don’t show me up, when I get a homer or a hit, I’m not going to show you up. That’s what I believe.

Is this what’s happening in the major leagues? No. There’s a lot of disrespect in the major leagues right now. I believe that the disrespect in the major leagues is at a high rate and is really bad for the game. Really, really, bad for the game. I don’t like it one bit. When the pitcher finishes the game, why do you have to showboat? That’s what you’re supposed to do — win the game and save the game. Same with the hitter. You’re paid good money to hit the ball. You hit homers or hit singles or whatever you want, but you don’t have to show off. I’m an old school player. I’m not saying hit people, but I’m saying when the pitcher gets mad, they have every right. If you get one hit out of 20 at bats and you celebrated like it’s the World Series, I’m going to be mad.

If I get a hit to win the game, that’s a little different. You celebrate with your teammates, but you still don’t show anybody up. In the major leagues, it’s not about style. It’s about your teammates and winning games.

BI: What are you doing now?

BM: I was an assistant coach for the Cardinals two years ago, and I was a 1st base coach for the Rangers last year.  I’m a family guy and I obviously have a book that just came out. That’s what I’m doing right now.

BI: Which team or teams do you think have the best chance of winning the World Series this year?

BM: My first pick would be the Cardinals, for sure. I think the Nationals have a good team, same with the Dodgers. That’s it for the National League. In the American League, it’s hard to pick. Kansas City has a great shot at it, the Angels have a great shot if they can pitch, and I think those are the guys that have a great shot.

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Thanks to a unmatched workload, injuries to teammates, and his own bruising style of play, LeBron James is doing things to his body that may be unmatched in sports. As a result, he and his trainer go through an intense and highly-detailed routine between games to make sure LeBron's body is as close to 100% as possible.

James is playing in his fifth straight NBA Finals. Since 2011 he has put an incredible amount of miles on his body — 2,000 more minutes than any other player in the NBA during that span — a number that has been pushed to even bigger extremes in this year's Finals due to the absence of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.

Michael Young, an expert on the fitness of professional athletes from the Athletic Lab, told ESPN that the idea of playing 50 minutes in an NBA game on the day after taking a five-hour cross-country flight was "unfathomable."

When asked for the athletic equivalent of what happens to James' body while playing two games in three days and traveling across three time zones, the closest Young could come up with was the Tour de France, but noted even that event doesn't have the "physical impact on your body like basketball."

After losing Game 5 in Oakland, James will have less than 48 hours to fly black to Cleveland, get his body back as close to peak condition as possible, and then play Game 6 at home with the season on the line. This is similar to the situation James faced following Game 2 after playing back-to-back overtime games and more than 96 minutes in the games combined.

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote about the recovery process used by James and his trainer following Game 2, one that will presumably be similar to what he is going through to get ready for Game 6.

After the game

The first step, according to Berger, is to replenish the fluids lost during the game. This starts by drinking a "carefully prepared combination of water and carbohydrate-rich recovery fluids" in order to replenish his glycogen levels.

He then follows this up by soaking in an ice bath up to his waist. In a segment earlier this season for Bleacher Report, James called the ice baths, "borderline torture."

The flight home

Flying increases swelling and dehydration so James continues drinking fluids on the flight. In addition, he eats a carefully planned meal of high-quality protein and carbs. Berger describes this as "a nearly non-stop effort to flush the toxins and lactic acid from his muscles to jump-start the healing process."

On the plane, James also receives electro-stimulation to keep his muscles contracting. He also wears compression sleeves along with compression tights and "Michelin-man-looking boots that fill with air." He also receives a massage, possibly on the floor. All of these are designed to push blood away from the extremities and towards the heart to get rid of the toxins and lactic acid and to make room for nutrients.

Back in Cleveland

The flight from San Francisco lands back in Cleveland at 6:30 a.m. At this point, James goes home for some sleep and then heads back at the team's training facility at 1 p.m..

With about 30 hours to go before tip-off, James works out on a stationary bike and treats his body with contrasting hot and cold baths.

Two hours later, James is back home where he is met by his personal trainer, Mike Mancias, who has been with LeBron since 2005 and whom James called "one of the best trainers in the world" following Game 2. The two go through four hours of "treatment, massage, and rehab."

Game day

Tuesday morning is dedicated to what Berger describes as "fine-tuning," with Mancias working on spots that may still be stiff or sore.

By noon, the recovery and preparation of his body is complete as he hits the practice floor and meets with the media about that night's game.

James is averaging 45.5 minutes per game in the Finals and we can expect to see something similar in Game 6. But in reality, the minutes began the moment Game 5 ended.

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During a practice round at Chambers Bay, the site of the US Open, Bubba Watson made one of the most bizarre putts you'll ever see.

With the hole behind his back, he sent his putt up a slope in the green, and it rolled all the way back and into the cup:

Chambers Bay has been a source of controversy in the run up to the US Open. Some have called it "unique" and "a little funky", while others have been strong in their criticisms. Ian Poulter took to Twitter and called the course "a complete farce" in April. American golfer Ryan Palmer agreed, telling USA Today, "As far as the greens are concerned, it's not a championship golf course."

Chambers Bay is a links course that features significant elevation changes and unusual undulations on the greens. If Watson's putt is any indication, we should see some wild shots this week.

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Here's everything you need to know about the wonderful world of motorsports this week.

Patrick Dempsey finishes second in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Actor, racer Patrick Dempsey — along with co-drivers Patrick Long and Marco Seefried —  piloted their #77 Porsche 911 RSR to a second place finish in the GTE AM class and 22nd overall at the prestigious sports car race.

After the race, an emotional Dempsey thanked his team and praised his co-drivers profusely.

The Dempsey-Proton Racing team competed 331 laps of the 8.5 mile-long Circuit de la Sarthe over the grueling 24 hour-long race. 

This is Dempsey's fourth appearance at the race. The team finished last year's running fifth in class and 24th overall. 

Kurt Busch wins in Michigan.

Kurt Busch took his second victory of the season at the rain-shortened Quicken Loans 400. Race officials halted the race at the Michigan International Speedway after just 138 of the 200 laps were completed. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. finished second and third respectively. Pole-sitter Kasey Kahne ended the race in 15th. 

Sunday's victory was the 2004 Sprint Cup champ's third at Michigan and the 27th of his career.

Josef Newgarden wins on the streets of Toronto.

Young American star Josef Newgarden took his second win of the IndyCar season over the weekend on the wet streets of Toronto. Newgarden was followed across the line by his teammate Luca Filippi — giving CFH Racing a rare 1-2 finish.

The 24-year-old Tennessean's first win came in April at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Chevrolet-powered cars swept the top 8 positions. Pole sitter Will Power finished the race in fourth position.

SEE ALSO: Motorsports Monday: Mercedes-AMG destroyed the competition at the Canadian Grand Prix

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LeBron James is in the middle of one of the most exceptional performances in NBA Finals history.

We've seen more efficient, successful performance in the Finals, but we haven't seen a player completely take control of a team the way LeBron has. He's the primary ball handler, post player, distributor, creator, and scorer. He's responsible for everything Cleveland does on offense. If you go backwards from the moment the Cavs make any given basket, you'll almost always find that LeBron was, in some way, the origin.

Consider the degree of difficulty for what LeBron is attempting to do.

He's playing with one of the worst supporting casts to ever make the NBA Finals. According to Nate Silver's site, this Cavs supporting casts ranks 60th out of the last 62 Finals teams. To make things even harder, some of LeBron's key cast members are playing below their standard. J.R. Smith is in a shooting slump, hitting just 26% of his 3's in the Finals compared to 39% in the rest of the playoffs. Iman Shumpert, the other Cavs wing player who should theoretically benefit from LeBron dominating the ball so much, is shooting 27% from the floor.

This Cavs team has no business pushing the best team in the NBA to six games, yet here we are. 

To say LeBron is a one-man team would be to ignore the difference Cleveland's wildly improved defense has made on this series. The Cavs have gone from one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA to one of the best in the space of nine months. If they were merely an okay defensive team in these Finals instead of an elite one, the series would already be over. 

So yeah, LeBron isn't a one-man team, but he very much is a one-man offense. Some illustrative stats:

• LeBron has taken 34 or more shots in a game 11 times in his career. Five of those have come in this year's playoffs, and four of them have come in the 2015 Finals.
• LeBron's usage rate — which measures the number of possessions a player uses when he's on the court — is at nearly 40%. For comparison, the highest usage rate in a season in NBA history is 38.7% by Kobe Bryant in 2005-06. The point: LeBron is dominating the ball more in these Finals more than anyone has ever done.

If the Cavs score, it's almost ways because of LeBron:

Seriously, Part 1:

Seriously, Part 2:

LeBron is putting up so eye-popping numbers as a result of this. He's nearly averaging a triple double at 36 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.

You just don't see this type of production for any other player in the NBA: 

Every time down the court, the Cavs are looking for LeBron to do something. He can't take possessions off. Every 20 seconds he backing someone down, or fighting for post position, or getting up a head of steam to drive to the basket. The closest he gets to a rest on offense is when he takes a three:

LeBron isn't just playing 45 of a possible 48 minutes per night in the Finals, he's playing some of the most labor-intensive minutes we've seen from an NBA player.

Sports scientist Michael Young told ESPN's Tom Haberstroh that LeBron's workload is "unfathomable." He compared it to the Tour de France, but with more physical contact.

From Young:

"Every one of these NBA guys are under a tremendous amount of stress at this point, but LeBron in particular, playing 46 minutes a game with that travel and quick turnaround ... it's a little insane. That's unbelievable, really, to bear that mental and physical burden and still play at a high level."

At times, particularly in fourth quarters, LeBron will crack for a split second and you notice just how much of a toll this is taking. Late in Game 5 he switched off for only a moment, but it was enough for Harrison Barnes to steal away a rebound:

After the game LeBron — who finished with 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists — pointed to the two plays he didn't make.

"I don't know. I don't put a ceiling on what I can do. I don't know. I mean, tonight I gave up two offensive rebounds — one to Barbosa in the first half, one to Harrison Barnes, which allowed him to get an and‑one with Iguodala with the left‑hand trick shot," he said.

This is the sad reality for Cleveland: even with LeBron pushing the limits of how far an individual player can carry a team alone, it's not enough, they need more.

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On Sunday morning in southern France, American cyclist Tejay van Garderen was leading a weeklong warm-up race for the Tour de France. He had an 18-second lead over chief rival Chris Froome, winner of the 2013 Tour. If the 26-year-old Montana native could just make it through the final stage and hold on to his lead in the prestigious Critérium du Dauphiné, it would be the greatest victory of his career.

But by the time the stage ended he'd lost the race — on the very last climb. Froome attacked, and while Van Garderen put up a fight, he couldn't keep pace. After seven days of racing he lost the race by 10 seconds.

After the race, photographer James Startt got a brutal photo of an emotional Van Garderen:

Startt told Business Insider that he took the photo moments after Van Garderen crossed the line: "He just threw his bike down and put his head on the wall." 

Van Garderen said, "Right now it is hurting a little bit, but sometimes that is a good thing."

Cycling can be heartbreaking, no matter how courageously the riders fight.

Startt has covered 25 Tours de France. You can follow him on Instagram during this year's Tour, July 4-26, and read more about him in this The New York Times feature from 2012.

You can watch the stage highlights below, and see more Dauphiné photos here.

[h/t peloton]

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On Friday at the Women's World Cup, FIFA announced the attendance for the USA-Sweden match as a sellout of 32,716 at Winnipeg Stadium.

A quick glance at the stands just as the match was starting suggests that the number was probably fairly accurate with very few empty seats visible.

Earlier in the day, Australia faced Nigeria in the same stadium. FIFA announced the attendance for that match as also being a sellout of 32,716.

However, a glance at the stands as the match started painted a much different picture with lots of empty seats.

The reason for the discrepancy is that group stage matches are played in pairs (four teams in each group play two matches on the same day in the same stadium) and FIFA is selling single tickets for both games of the double-header.

This allows FIFA to report the combined attendance for both matches as the attendance for each match when in reality the true attendance for one or both matches is likely to be much different.

According to the Edmonton Sun, ticket sales were approaching 1.0 million on the eve of the tournament with FIFA and tournament officials hoping for 1.5 million tickets sold. However, as Dominic Bossi of The Sydney Morning Herald points out, half of the matches are double-headers and the tickets sold for those matches are counted twice whether the person holding the ticket attends both matches or not.

In other words, whatever the final attendance figure is when announced by FIFA at the end of the tournament, the actual number will be much less.

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Twitter CFO Anthony Noto was on the shortlist to become the NFL's next commissioner, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Noto served as the NFL's finance chief from 2008 to 2010.

When Noto grew bored with the job, some of the league's key figures — including the current commissioner — tried to convince him not to leave, according to the report. 

"NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft indicated that he would be a strong contender to be the next commissioner, but Mr. Noto didn't want to wait around," the Wall Street Journal says, quoting anonymous sources.

Noto, who played football at West Point, left the NFL to be an investment banker at Goldman Sachs where he was the lead underwriter for Twitter's IPO. He joined Twitter as CFO a couple of years later. 

SEE ALSO: Here’s who insiders think could replace Twitter CEO Dick Costolo

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According to Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey, there's a "legitimate chance" that Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid could miss the entire 2015-16 season after suffering an injury setback.

Embiid, the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, missed his entire rookie year after breaking his foot on the eve of the draft.

After finally recovering enough to do some on-court activities at the end of the year, he has looked "dominant and explosive" in workouts over the past three weeks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. However, a recent CT scan revealed an issue in Embiid's healing process.

Pompey reports that the team is "prepared to keep Embiid out as long as possible in order to focus on his long-term health."

Sixers GM Sam Hinkie released an initial statement following the news of Embiid's latest setback:

"As part of the conservative approach focused on the long-term health, recovery and care of Joel, we have been closely monitoring his progress, regularly evaluating his status and adjusting our plans accordingly.

"Recently, Joel and Sixers personnel traveled to Los Angeles for a series of routine exams with a number of physicians who have been actively involved throughout this process. During his visit with Dr. Richard Ferkel, a standard CT scan on Joel's right foot revealed less healing than anticipated at this point.

"Our priority remains providing Joel with every opportunity to ensure he has a long and successful NBA career, and as such, these findings cause us to pause and reassess his current activities. Together with Joel and his representatives, we will continue to consult with the experienced team of doctors who have been an integral part of his evaluations, while also engaging in dialogue with a broader set of experts and specialists.

"Discussions regarding the appropriate next steps are currently ongoing and we will share an update once it becomes available."

Hinkie has not commented on Pompey's report that Embiid may be forced to miss another season. 

According to Pompey, Embiid's injury will not alter the 76ers draft plans – they will still stick to their philosophy of drafting the best overall player regardless of position. Most experts believe the 76ers, who have the third pick in this year's draft, will take Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell.

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This week is the U.S. Open, the second "major" golf tournament of the year.

Unlike in years past, this year's U.S. Open will not feature thick rough and narrow fairways. 

Instead, it will be played on a links-style course just outside of Seattle. 

The course is called Chambers Bay, and it is going to drive the professionals crazy. The greens have wild undulations. The fairways have fescue grass, which is more coarse than the grass on traditional courses. 

Chambers Bay is a links-style public course that was built in 2007 by Robert Trent Jones II. It was built on a former gravel mine.  It's a seriously gorgeous golf course with jaw dropping views of the Puget Sound. 

Here's an overview of the whole course from the restaurant at the top of the property. A shuttle takes you down to the driving range and the course. On the right is the par-5 eighth hole.

Here's one more overview. On the left, right in front, is the par-3 ninth hole.

Here's the awesome message inscribed on the range balls. More people should take this to heart. Playing the tips of a course is generally pointless, unless you're a single digit handicapper who booms drives.

Christian Pham, a 40-year-old professional poker player, intended to sign up for a limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Instead, he accidentally signed up for a no-limit deuce-to-seven draw lowball event, a game Pham said he never played before, and won the entire tournament, according to Poker News' Remko Rinkema.

The buy in was $1,500. Pham said he would've unregistered for the event if he realized what game it was earlier. However, after initially panicking when he was dealt five cards instead of the normal two, Pham leaned on the advice of his competition to quickly learn the ropes en route to taking home $81,314 and a coveted gold bracelet.

"When I got to the table, and when I got dealt five cards, I realized that something was wrong," Pham, who's from St. Paul, Minnesota told Rinkema. "I said, 'Oh my god!' because in Minnesota they don't have this game. ...This was the first time I played this game, but I tried to learn the game at the table from the people at the table."

Deuce-to-seven draw lowball is extremely different than the more popular Texas Hold 'Em. While in Hold 'Em the goal is to get the highest hand possible, it's the exact opposite in deuce-to-seven draw lowball, where you actually want the lowest hand possible.

Shuan Harris, Pham's dealer at the final table, described it as being, "A totally different game. Different mindset, different strategies."

While Pham may have been a rookie to the game, the results say otherwise — he was the chip leader at the end of both Day 1 and Day 2, and Rinkema described Pham as "extremely confident and in control" throughout the final table.

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When Jon Sakoda, a general partner at the venture capital firm NEA, showed up late to a Goldman Sachs event last year, he didn’t expect to meet a lot of new people, much less a living sports legend.

But after the event, someone familiar tapped him on the shoulder — it was Derek Jeter, the former New York Yankees shortstop, who’s now running his own sports media company, The Players Tribune.

Jeter was on a trip to meet with a few Silicon Valley venture capital firms at the time, and he wanted to learn how technology could help grow his online media firm. He laid out his vision for The Players Tribune, a website where professional athletes create their own content, and how he wanted it to ultimately become a platform to directly connect athletes with fans.

Sakoda was immediately sold. The idea was new and the site was growing fast. Jeter’s connections in the sports world allowed him to increase the editorial content from one post a month to multiple stories a day. Now it has attracted over 100 professional athletes to write for his site, including Kobe Bryant, Russell Wilson, and Hunter Pence.

They soon had a follow-up meeting and Sakoda introduced Jeter to Blue Jeans Network, one of NEA’s portfolio companies that specializes in online video conferencing. In less than a month, the two companies became partners, integrating Blue Jeans’ technology to Jeter’s site. Jeter even joined Blue Jeans’ board of advisors.

“We really saw eye-to-eye on how his media platform and his unique connections to athletes, coupled with Silicon Valley’s latest and greatest technology could be a disruptive force in the media business,” Sakoda told Business Insider.

And on Monday, Sakoda and Jeter took another step forward in their business partnership by announcing a Series B funding worth $9.5 million. The financing, which is being led by NEA and comes out of the firm's massive $3.1 billion fund raised in April, represents The Players Tribune’s first-ever VC funding. Existing investors, including Thomas Tull of Legendary Entertainment, will also join the round. The new funding will be spent on creating more content, including radio and video, as well as hiring more staff.

The Players Tribune is still in its early stages. But Sakoda sees a huge opportunity going forward, especially since it’s led by one of the most successful athletes of all time.

“Jeter relayed his favorite quote recently, which was, ‘I love it when people doubt me. It makes me work harder to prove them wrong,'” Sakoda said. “If you have had a celebrated history of Derek’s career, would you really want to bet against the guy?”

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Much has been made of the artificial turf used by FIFA in this year's Women's World Cup, but so far, the turf is not hindering scoring.

Like the men's tournament last summer, scoring is up at this year's Women's World Cup after several years of a downward trend in goals. Through the first 24 matches, World Cup matches are averaging 3.1 goals per game, a 15.3% increase over the 2011 tournament when teams averaged an all-time low 2.7 goals per match.

Scoring should settle down a little bit once the knockout stage begins and the best teams are facing each other, but so far, the level of scoring is a promising pace.

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While 19-year-old point guard D'Angelo Russell is widely considered one of the top five prospects in the 2015 NBA Draft, nobody is quite sure where he'll land on June 25.

Russell, who has compared his game to Stephen Curry's, is one of the most coveted prospects in the draft. According to ESPN's Chad Ford, most NBA teams' advanced analytical ranking systems have Russell listed as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect in the draft.

He doesn't have as much potential as Karl-Anthony Towns, he's not as mysterious as Emmanuel Mudiay, and he doesn't have the boom-or-bust intrigue of Kristaps Porzingis. But Russell may be the closest prospect to a "sure thing," which puts into question how many teams will opt for the safe pick or the mystery (and potential high reward) in players like Mudiay or Porzingis.

Russell could go as high No. 2 to the Lakers or he could fall to the Knicks at No. 4. While that doesn't seem like a wide variety of options, where he lands could shake up several other teams' drafts.

Russell recently canceled his workout with the 76ers, causing some to wonder if he'd been given some kind of guarantee to be picked by the Lakers at No. 2 (it's widely assumed the Minnesota Timberwolves will take Towns or Jahlil Okafor at No. 1). Though Russell was reportedly just sick, the idea of him jumping to No. 2 in the draft causes a snowball effect for the other teams.

If Russell goes No. 2, then either Towns or Okafor will be available at No. 3. Both prospects are considered potentially franchise-changing big men, but if there's a team who doesn't need one, it's the Philadelphia 76ers, who have taken three big men — Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric — in the past two lotteries. It seems unlikely that they'd let players as good as Towns or Okafor go by them, but the Sixers and their abundance of big men are the only team where this is plausible.

The Sixers also have a long, steady trajectory on their rebuilding timeline, and are said to be intrigued by Mudiay and Porzingis, both of whom may need a few years to develop in the NBA. If the Sixers bite on one of them at No. 3, a big man like Okafor could fall all the way to the Knicks at No. 4.

If Towns and Okafor go in the top two, then it makes the 76ers the decision-makers for much of the draft. If they choose Mudiay, many people feel Russell is a lock go to the Knicks. If the Sixers take a bigger swing for Porzingis (which is possible because of his unique skill set as a big man), Russell could go for No. 4, leaving Mudiay next. The Orlando Magic already have a young backcourt in place, so if they pass on Mudiay at No. 5, he could fall all the way to the Sacramento Kings at No. 6 — a far drop for one of the most talented players in the draft.

Russell is the key here, and it all depends on how much teams value his skills. He's a great ball-handler, an elite shooter (41% from three in college), has good size and great court vision. However, Russell's athleticism has been questioned and he doesn't have the ceiling on defense of Mudiay, who's even bigger, stronger, and more explosive.

Russell is an undeniably intriguing prospect. He made several incredible passes this year that had the NBA world drooling over how he could develop as a playmaker in the future:

Will teams see Russell's strengths as too good to pass up, or will they opt for the high-risk, high-reward prospects like Mudiay or Porzingis, thinking they could find players like Russell elsewhere in the draft or free agency?

While Russell will almost surely be a top-four pick, where exactly he goes could be a key deciding factor in how the top of the draft shakes out.

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