TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – For a store that specializes in Florida State apparel like Tallahassee’s Garnet and Gold, softball and baseball postseason usually indicates that last big push of merchandise before fall.
But as the pink and white display of shirts at the entrance of the store’s Pensacola Street location may indicate, the bottom line hasn’t been the first thing on the mind this season.
“We immediately were like, ‘we need to do something to show her that we love and support her.’”
Words from store manager Krislyn Kelley about the store’s want to help following Seminole softball Head Coach Lonni Alameda’s breast cancer diagnosis earlier this spring. The FSU and softball communities have rallied around the woman lovingly called “Coach A” (pronounced Coach-Uh) in may ways, but few have been quite as visible as those pink and white shirts, screen-printed with the school’s iconic “FS” interlock and a pink ribbon adorned with Alameda’s initials and her signature pony tail.
With both Alameda’s blessing and swift approval from Florida State licensing the shirts were rushed into production and have become a huge hit with all proceeds supporting TMH’s Walker Breast Program.
“I’ve just really appreciated that we’re bringing a mindset to something I’m going through, but something so many other people are going through right now,” remarked Alameda, who’s matching every dollar raised.
“They’ve been flying off the shelves and it’s just been incredible to see,” said Kelley of the hot seller. “Everyone’s been coming together as a community to show [Alameda] that we love her and we’re here to support her.”
In less than a month, the shirts have raised in the ballpark of $15,000 of TMH and have become inescapable in the softball world, being purchased for FSU recruits and their high school teams, shown off on an ACC Network and popping up all over campus including from the team next door at Dick Howser Stadium. Florida State baseball surprised Alameda by wearing the shirts when the two teams made a joint trip to Louisville in April.
“She’s a spectacular human being and we know she’s facing a challenge,” remarked baseball coach Link Jarrett of his colleague’s fight and the gesture. “If that moment and that plane trip could give her some excitement and a good feeling then that’s exactly what we wanted to do.”
Friday, the Tallahassee Regional will begin at JoAnne Graf Field and alongside it there’s sure to be plenty of pink alongside the garnet and gold that will fill the stands. A reminder of a fight, and one heck of a team that’s battling to beat an opponent far beyond the foul lines.
“People I don’t even know are wearing these shirts out for a day and ‘we’re doing this for Lonni,’ but we’re doing this for breast cancer,” said a grateful Alameda. “We’re doing this for cancer patients, we’re doing this for people who are going through the fight.”
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State softball coach Lonni Alameda sits just outside the main waiting room at Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center with a black cap pulled low over her bald head and a long gray sweater keeping her warm. She readies her bag, loaded with notes and her laptop, so she can start breaking down game tape once she gets settled.
“Alana?” a nurse calls.
She picks up her bag, strides over and smiles at hearing her given name. The softball world knows her as either Lonni or “Coacha,” the nickname her players use.
On this particular day in April, she is led through the doors and into a bigger pod in the corner, the windows offering a view of the trees outside. The nurse draws the curtains, offering some privacy. Though nothing hints at who she is, the staff knows. The nurse starts peppering her with questions about how she feels to make sure she is not overdoing things at work.
Alameda assures them she is doing just fine. The nurse starts testing her blood pressure, taking her temperature and reading results from a blood test she was given earlier in the morning — all to ensure she is ready to receive her next chemo treatment for breast cancer.
Since mid-March, this has become her routine every Monday, arriving at the hospital between 7:30 and 8 a.m. so she can get home by early afternoon. Every week, she inches closer to not only beating cancer but reaching the ultimate goal on the field: another trip to the Women’s College World Series. That quest has reached its pivotal moment, starting Friday against Texas Tech in the super regionals.
No matter what happens this weekend, a second cycle of treatments awaits after the WCWS in June. That cycle involves an even more potent chemo drug, Adriamycin, known as “The Red Devil” because of its color and potential to intensify side effects, including nausea, vomiting, mouth sores and fatigue.
Alameda catches herself thinking ahead and imagining the worst. She stops, repeating a mantra she uses with her team.
“I have to be 10 toes down,” she says. “I just have to be right here. Right now.”
The focus is today, and today she feels happy and hopeful. The nurse connects the IV to the port implanted in her chest. The chemo drip begins.
AT NOON THE following day, Alameda is on her feet at JoAnne Graf Field. Every Tuesday, she spends two hours working with each of her pitchers, going over notes she has made over the previous week.
Alameda says she feels good today. She always does the day after chemo because she is given steroids to help minimize the side effects. Eating is often a chore: Food has lost its taste, and the nausea makes it hard to eat big meals.
Later in the week, she knows the exhaustion will hit her. The biggest issue right now is the rashes that have crept up and down her arms and legs, a side effect of an experimental drug she is trying as part of her regimen. She wears long sleeves and long pants to help minimize the urge to scratch.
When it is time for true freshman Jazzy Francik to take her turn, Alameda reminds her about the importance of having patience throughout the long season. They practice her drop ball first, then her screwball.
“Good!” Alameda says. “Just like that!”
Less than two weeks later, Francik would become the first true freshman to throw a no-hitter at Florida State since 2012 — on the same weekend the Seminoles clinched the 15th regular-season ACC title in school history. In early May, Alameda was named ACC Coach of the Year for the seventh time and now has the Seminoles in position to make their sixth WCWS appearance in her 17 years as head coach.
Her players want nothing more than to win for her.
“This is bigger than softball,” sophomore shortstop Isa Torres said. “We know how much she pours into this program. So being the best versions of ourselves out on that field every single day is what we are going to do for her. We don’t want to do it for ourselves. It’s always for her.”
Alameda took over the FSU program in 2009 following NFCA Hall of Fame coach JoAnne Graf’s stint that led to two AIAW national titles. Alameda has already built on that legacy — leading the Seminoles to the 2018 national title, nine ACC tournament championships and more than 800 wins, becoming a Hall of Famer herself.
Not once did she think about stepping away after her diagnosis. In her mind, she could practice what she always preaches — the importance of showing up, even during tough times.
“When you talk about showing up — maybe I don’t feel good today, but I’m going to be here,” Alameda says. “As a young person, if you can see people can do that in life in general, that is what we are talking about. It is just really important for me to be here.”
Alameda points out this is Team No. 42 at Florida State. As is tradition, players pick a theme for the season in August. This season, they chose to find peace in their journey.
“Grateful 4 Everything
Entitled 2 Nothing”
This slogan feels even more meaningful now.
ALAMEDA GOT AN urgent phone call in June 2024 while she was on the road recruiting. Her younger brother, Aaron, had died suddenly of a heart attack in their native California, two months shy of his 52nd birthday. She immediately flew home to spend time with her mom and dad, as they processed their grief together. The task of cleaning out his apartment fell to her. In between moving boxes, she felt something tweak in her knee.
The pain intensified over the ensuing months until she felt a pop. She underwent knee surgery in early November. For eight weeks, she was not allowed to put any weight on her knee and had to get around using crutches.
On Christmas Eve, Alameda put her crutches under her arms, just like she had done for weeks. But this time, she immediately felt a burning sensation between her armpit and right breast, as if the crutch had punctured something deep inside.
She touched around the area and felt a mass. Unsure whether it was a welt from using the crutches or a breast lump, she called her gynecologist to get the next available appointment. Alameda was up to date on her mammograms, and she never had any issues. This time, though, she had a bad feeling.
In early January, she went in for an ultrasound, which can detect lumps that dense breast tissue sometimes hides during routine mammograms.
“You have a pretty big mass in there,” the technician said.
All Almeda could think was, “My brother, in a weird way, is saving me right now.”
Alameda was sent for more testing while waiting for an official diagnosis. Finally, in late February, doctors told her that she had Stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer. Her mass was between the size of a walnut and a tangerine, and they would need to begin chemo as soon as possible to shrink the tumor. The good news, in this case, was that the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes. Doctors reassured her that there is a high success rate in treating this type of cancer, and her prognosis was good.
“The doctor, she came in and gave me a big hug because I have known her for a long time, and she was like, ‘You’re a fighter, and plenty of people live through this. You’re going to be fine.’ So I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to be fine.’ It was all very positive. They conveyed a plan right away, and I was all in,” Alameda says.
Alameda gave her doctors her calendar and made one thing clear: They would need to fit her treatments in between practices and games.
One of her first calls went to FSU women’s basketball coach Brooke Wyckoff, who coached during the 2023-24 season after her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment plan. Alameda had a list of questions: When would she start feeling sick? How sick would she feel? How should she manage her team? How should she manage her schedule?
Wyckoff told her it was important to delegate responsibility to others on her staff because she would not be able to keep the same pace. Alameda was known for staying up late, sending emails at 2 or 3 a.m. She would not be able to do that any longer. Wyckoff also warned that Alameda would have to be more careful about going into crowded spaces since her immune system would be weaker than usual.
But more than anything, Wyckoff supported and encouraged Alameda to keep coaching.
“This job really is your life,” Wyckoff says. “Not in a bad way, in all the best ways. It’s a passion, it’s a lifestyle. To imagine just giving that up and saying I’m not going to be a part of that for a season is unthinkable. I was so excited about the season and our team, the thought of just walking away from the girls, I just couldn’t. Lonni said the same thing.”
ALAMEDA HAD HER first treatment March 17. The hard part would come next: telling the team. Just before their midweek game against Stetson on March 26, she called a meeting.
She thought a lot about what she wanted to say and wrote pages of notes. But as soon as she got up in front of the team, she burst into tears. She managed to blurt out, “I have breast cancer.” Senior catcher/outfielder Katie Dack immediately hugged her. The rest of the team followed, enveloping their coach through their own tears.
Alameda told the team how she planned to coach, reassuring them that she would be OK.
“You never want to see your strong, fearless leader get diagnosed with something like that,” fifth-year senior catcher Michaela Edenfield says. “But I kept thinking, ‘Now it’s our turn to be there for her.’ I just remember looking at her when she was done talking, and I said, ‘Coacha, you’re truly one of the strongest, bravest women I’ve ever met in my whole entire life. Please let us know how we can help you.'”
Two days later, their Friday night game against NC State took on even bigger meaning. It was their annual “Paint it Pink” game, an athletics department initiative across all women’s sports that raises money through auctions and fundraising for the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Walker Breast Program.
Alameda and Wyckoff have been involved in fundraising for this program; they are pictured in a photo from August 2023 with volleyball coach Chris Poole and hospital officials. Alameda is front and center, Wyckoff next to her, holding a donation check for $12,672.
At the time of the photograph, Wyckoff had been undergoing initial testing for breast cancer. The money was going to buy a machine that would speed up detection. “It just hit me so hard,” Wyckoff says. “This technology they are buying, that’s me. I’m a patient now.” Within 17 months, Alameda would be a patient, too.
Alameda knew she could not keep her diagnosis within the walls of her program for much longer. On March 31, she publicly announced her diagnosis and plan to continue coaching.
The initial response overwhelmed her. Flower deliveries and packages flooded her office. Alameda goes through photos in her phone to show some of the items she received — fluffy blankets, a homemade patch quilt and plenty of inspirational messages from former players and connections across the sport. Her former Oklahoma teammates even hand-delivered beaded bracelets that say “Team Lonni.”
Howard Community College in Maryland sent her cooling gloves and socks to use during chemo to help reduce neuropathy symptoms, which include numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.
Every Monday, she fills the gloves and socks with ice. As her fingers and toes grow red from the cold, pain sets in. She tells herself, ‘Just a little while longer.’
IF ALAMEDA IS known for one thing other than winning, it is her trademark long braid. Once she began chemo, she decided to cut the braid off and donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that makes hair prosthetics for financially disadvantaged children.
The hair that remained soon started falling out in chunks, so she shaved her head. Senior infielder Krystina Hartley told Alameda she wanted to help, so they decided to do it with the team at their hotel after their April 9 game against Saint Mary’s in California.
“I do think it’s part of a stage going through cancer that could be celebrated,” Alameda says. “It doesn’t have to be like, ‘Oh, go hide. You’ve got cancer now. Can we just make it part of the process?'”
Assistant coach Troy Cameron offered his travel razor, but there was a problem: The blades were not made to shave off large swaths of hair. The athletic trainers brought out all their scissors to try and speed up the process.
“At one point, it felt like ‘Edward Scissorhands,”‘ Alameda says with a laugh.
The scissors were passed around the room. Edenfield went last and cried as she cut.
“I’ll never forget that,” Edenfield says, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s super emotional to see Coacha in this state, but also, at the same time, I can be proud that I was there for that.
“Because the hair coming off feels like the most official piece. It’s such a big thing in femininity. But it’s how you share those moments in life. She’s such a brave, kindhearted, vulnerable and amazing human being, and she has touched so many lives. She’s touched mine.”
That goes for the entire softball community. After Alameda went public with her diagnosis, the other ACC coaches brainstormed ways to honor her. NC State coach Lindsay Leftwich offered to design a helmet sticker. She called Florida State assistant Travis Wilson and asked for mantras or key phrases that Alameda often uses.
“Honestly,” Wilson told Leftwich, “The hardest part so far has been having to cut her hair off.”
Then it clicked. Leftwich went onto her computer and found a pink ribbon. Then she found a braid and lined it up onto half of the ribbon. She ran it through a graphics generator and voila — a pink ribbon featuring the iconic braid.
Leftwich sent her design to the other ACC coaches. Once they approved, her creative services team polished up the graphic, then she sent it to James Gravitz at HeadWrapz, a company NC State uses for its helmet graphics and decals. Gravitz printed the decal and shipped it to every other ACC softball school the same day.
“I didn’t want to throw just a circle with her initials on it,” Leftwich says. “I wanted it to be something that stood out. It’s a cool way to say we’re all standing here doing this with you, as much as we can.”
The logo has made its way onto T-shirts as well. Florida State’s local apparel shop is selling “Team Lonni Tees,” featuring the logo, with all proceeds going to breast cancer research at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Alameda plans to match the money raised.
That attention has spread beyond the softball community, as coaches across the country who have gone through their own cancer experiences have reached out to her. That includes Penn State volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who won the national title this past season while undergoing breast cancer treatment.
Alameda sits in her office, a “Get Well Soon” balloon behind her, somewhat incredulous over all the attention. But she believes being public will help not only uplift others but also raise awareness.
“It’s such a big, super cool moment to do something bigger than sport, because of sport,” she said.
The only time Alameda grows emotional is when she hears that her players are determined to win for her. Her heart breaks for them — that they have to watch her go through this and that some also have family experiencing cancer. She always talks about playing for something bigger than themselves, but she never meant that to be her.
“I am now that person, so it is weird because I’m here. I’m fine,” Alameda says. “I do not want to be that beacon, so I struggle with that.”
Florida State and her doctors are carefully monitoring her daily, and so far she has not missed anything she would have been around for last season.
Athletic director Michael Alford said he teasingly told Alameda, “If I have to bench you, I am going to bench you.” So far, though, all Alford has seen is “the same Lonni as always.”
AT THE HOSPITAL every Monday, assistant coach Kaleigh Rafter delivers Alameda her morning Starbucks. Rafter settles herself on the floor next to the big chair Alameda sits in, opening her laptop to get a jump on scouting the pitchers the Seminoles are set to face next — saving Alameda time and effort.
There will be more days just like this one. When Alameda begins her second cycle of treatment, with the more potent chemo drugs, those sessions will last much longer. Those treatments are scheduled to end Aug. 25. After that, Alameda will undergo a double mastectomy and has opted not to undergo reconstruction surgery.
But all of that is for another day. At this moment, a musician from the hospital stops in to see Alameda. Hospitals offer music therapy to cancer patients to help lift their spirits and also take their minds off their pain, at least for a few minutes.
“Do you want to hear a song?” she asks.
“Yes!” Alameda says.
“What do you want to hear?” she asks.
“What is most requested?” Alameda asks.
“People like 60s and 70s folk a lot, James Taylor.”
“I love James Taylor! Let’s do James Taylor.”
The musician begins the familiar notes on her guitar. Alameda mouths the words, reclining in her big chair.
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again
The musician says goodbye, and Alameda reflects on the past 10 months. She has felt the ups and downs. She has maintained her smile while also staying up nights wondering how she would make it through. She misses her brother but is grateful for the time they had together.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin got into a shouting match over agency grant cancellations during a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Whitehouse was questioning Zeldin over whether the EPA conducted individual reviews of the grants it had canceled amid sweeping funding cuts across the government under President Trump.
The Rhode Island Democrat said the testimony of agency officials and statements made in court by government lawyers contradict the administration’s comments about the thoroughness of the reviews.
Specifically, he pointed to a court document where EPA official Travis Voyles stated, “On February 25, 2025, I conducted an individualized review of EPA grant programs,” as well as Zeldin’s own comments that the administrator himself had conducted a grant review.
Whitehouse also said that “On May 16, DOJ [Justice Department] career lawyers … filed a pleading in federal court that conceded that you had not done individualized, grant-by-grant reviews.”
“The problem with your assertion here today is that it is belied by your own employees’ sworn statements in court and by the decision of the Department of Justice to admit that what you say isn’t true,” Whitehouse told Zeldin.
“No, you’re not grasping the fact that we would have multiple employees looking at these grants. That concept just escapes you,” Zeldin fired back.
After a back-and-forth, Zeldin said, “We’re not going to waste dollars just because you insist on EPA lighting taxpayer dollars on fire.”
“The American taxpayers, they put President Trump in office because of people like you. They have Republicans in charge of the House and Senate because of people like you, because you don’t care about 99 percent of this story,” he continued.
In response, Whitehouse said what he actually wants is for Zeldin to “explain why the Department of Justice lawyers representing EPA in court, under a duty of candor, have said that everything you’ve just said isn’t true.”
Zeldin also entered into a tense exchange with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) over the agency’s environmental rollbacks and a particular grant.
Schiff opened his remarks by rattling off rollbacks at the Trump EPA and saying “if you’re successful in eliminating half of our efforts to clean our water and our air, your legacy will be more lung cancer, it’ll be more bladder cancer, it’ll be more head and neck cancer, it’ll be more breast cancer, it’ll be more leukemia and pancreatic cancer, more liver cancer, more skin cancer, more kidney cancer, more testicular cancer, more colorectal cancer, more rare cancers of innumerable varieties.”
He also asked about a specific grant related to preventing lead poisoning in children in Santa Ana, Calif.
As he appeared to be looking through a list for that specific grant, Zeldin retorted, “With that wind up, by the way, I understand that you are an aspiring fiction writer. I see why.”
“I understand your view that you can cut half of the agency, and it won’t affect people’s health or their water, their air. That, to me, is a big fiction. Mr. Zeldin,” Schiff replied.
“If your children were drinking water in Santa Ana, Mr. Zeldin, maybe you wouldn’t be so cavalier about whether there was lead in their water,” he continued. “You could give a rat’s ass about how much cancer your agency causes.”
Exposure to lead can cause brain damage in children.
The agency has also indicated that it plans to loosen restrictions on various pollutants, including some that cause cancer.
—Updated at 3:42 p.m. EDT
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is getting a surprise Master Crafted Edition, launching June 10 on PC and Xbox Series X and S, and straight into Game Pass.
No PlayStation 5 version was mentioned by publisher Sega, which retains the rights to the Relic Entertainment-developed original third-person shooter.
This is described as the “definitive edition” of Captain Titus and the Ultramarines’ fight against the Ork hordes. Space Marine was first published by THQ back in 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The Master Crafted Edition was developed by SneakyBox, and has a 4K resolution, modernized controls, an interface overhaul, improved character models, and remastered audio, which includes over 100 new voice lines for the Orks.
“Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition isn’t just a technical upgrade — it’s a thoughtful restoration,” said producer Vaidas Mikelskas from SneakyBox. “We aimed to preserve the spirit of the original while modernizing the experience for today’s players.
“This is more than just Master Crafted Edition, it’s a respectful dialogue between past and present, preserving what made the original special while making it shine for a new generation of players.”
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition gameplay features:
Storm Into Battle: Experience 40,000 years of combat, evolved. Step fearlessly into the heart of combat as Captain Titus, an unstoppable Space Marine. Titus will not hide and does not cower, as he purges all that stands.
Unleash A Devastating Arsenal: Deal death from a distance with high-caliber ranged weapons and stand toe-to-toe with the enemy with the brutal chainsword, all the while protected by your Ceramite armor.
Define Your Class: In Multiplayer mode unlock and upgrade weapons, armor and abilities to further empower combat options and personalise your Space Marine to match your preferred playstyle. Experiment and explore all of the options provided by the Imperium.
Updated Ork Identity: The Ork horde’s identity is fully aligned with the latest Warhammer 40,000 lore, benefitting from new character models and over 100 new voice lines.
Modernised UI and Control Scheme: Take the fight to Ork horde with reworked and improved UI and control options, updated for a new generation of players.
Take The Fight Online: Form a squad or warband to face off in 8 vs 8 online matches. Earn experience and unlock new weapons and armor to customize the Devastator, Assault, and Tactical Marine classes.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition Screenshots
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition technical enhancements:
4K Resolution: Available on PC and Xbox X
Greatly Improved Textures: For enhanced environmental depth and fidelity
Graphics Engine Overhaul: Rewritten for the modernisation of 3D models and visual effects
New User Interface: Original Flash-based UI replaced with a more modern, user-friendly for improved player experience
Remastered Audio: Features additional enemy voice-over lines and improved support for modern audio systems
32-bit to 64-bit System Upgrade: Providing improved and more stable gameplay
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine eventually got its sequel, the smash hit that was 2024’s Space Marine 2. That game got an announcement of its own, a new Siege mode coming to test players’ resolve. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition was announced during the Warhammer Skulls 2025 broadcast. In case you missed it, check out all the announcements and trailers from the show.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The four-tonne, 6ft brick wall came with a mural by one of the world’s most famous artists, a New York-style graffiti battle and a heartwarming backstory.
But when Banksy’s Battle to Survive a Broken Heart went up for auction in New York on Wednesday night with a high pre-sale estimate of $3 million, it did not elicit a single bid.
Experts said the failure underscored the tepid demand in the high-end art market amid broader economic uncertainty. Plus, there was the size and weight of the artwork and the lack of Banksy’s own seal of approval.
Only a few years ago, billionaire trophy-hunters and collectors flush with disposable cash pushed the art market to record highs, and authenticated Banksy pieces sold well above their pre-sale estimates.
The mural was displayed at a Downtown shopping mall
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
In 2021, Love is in the Bin broke Banksy’s record sale price when it sold at auction for $25 million (£18.6 million) at Sotheby’s in London.
The artwork, originally named Girl with Balloon, became infamous after it was partially destroyed by a built-in shredder when it was sold at auction for the first time in 2018.
The half-shredded Banksy “Love is in the Bin”, 2018
BEN STANSALL/AFP
“In 2020 and 2021 you saw a lot of auction records, particularly for Banksy and his signed works and canvases,” said Jasper Tordoff, a Banksy specialist with the London trading platform My Art Broker. “An awful lot of these were selling well above the high estimates. Since then, we’ve seen a considerable pullback.”
In the broader market, high-end sales have slumped, works by leading artists have been pulled at the last minute and in New York there has been a wave of gallery closures and layoffs.
During the spring auction season this month, New York’s three big houses — Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips — sold a combined $838 million worth of art excluding buyer’s premiums, well short of their estimates for $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion.
Among the high-profile casualties were Tall Thin Head, a sculpture by the Swiss-Italian artist Alberto Giacometti, which was passed in without a single bid as collectors were spooked by the $70 million asking price.
Andy Warhol’s Big Electric Chair was pulled mid-sale on May 12 after its asking price was set at $30 million.
Alberto Giacometti’s Tall Thin Head
JOHN ANGELILLO/ALAMY
Andy Warhol’s Big Electric Chair
KYLIE COOPER/REUTERS
Banksy, the famously elusive guerrilla artist, painted Battle to Survive a Broken Heart on the side of a Brooklyn warehouse in 2013 after a chance encounter with its owner, Vassilios Georgiadis.
Georgiadis was standing outside smoking a cigarette when he noticed a dark van parked down the block. He told the driver that it was in danger of being struck by trucks turning at the intersection and for him to pull into his driveway.
The driver, who wore sunglasses and a wide-brimmed fisherman’s hat, and spoke in a distinctive English accent, took up his offer while he went to a convenience store for cigarettes and coffee. He returned that evening to spray-paint a heart-shaped balloon covered with Band-Aids on a brick wall of the nondescript building.
The mural, painted during a month-long Banksy residency in New York, quickly drew large crowds. It also caught the attention of taggers, with one brazenly spray-painting the words “Omar NYC” in red beside the balloon.
The graffiti battle intensified when a tagger scrawled “Shane” in purple spray paint. Sensing they had a valuable work of art on their hands, Georgiadis’s family hired security guards to protect the site round-the-clock.
The following evening, a third tag appeared. Someone, believed to be Banksy, had clandestinely stencilled “is a little girl” in white and pink beside the prior tags along with the words “I remember MY first tag” in black. Banksy’s crown-like signature also appeared in the bottom right-hand corner of the wall.
Georgiadis died of a heart attack in 2021 aged 67, and his family decided to sell Battle to Survive a Broken Heart and donate a percentage of the proceedings to the American Heart Association. It was wheeled out of its climate-controlled warehouse a month ago, and tens of thousands came to view it on display at the Winter Garden mall in downtown New York.
It went under the hammer at the shopping centre on Wednesday with a pre-sale estimate of between $1 million and $3 million. The bidding began at $500,000 and quickly fell to $300,000 — then $250,000.
“It’s worth many, many times that,” Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey’s auction house in New York, assured wary bidders. “If it won’t fit in your home, donate it to a museum for an enormous tax write-off,” he pleaded, before calling a halt to the auction. He told The Times afterwards: “Something like this object is so unpredictable.”
The failure to attract a bid underlined the caution being exercised at auction by wealthy art collectors amid broader economic uncertainty. Another factor weighing against the sale of the mural was the lack of the artist’s certificate of authenticity.
Banksy established a “pest control office” in 2009 to authenticate genuine pieces and prevent fakes from circulating in the secondary art market. But he endorses only artworks that were produced for commercial sale, and rarely gives his stamp of approval to street art.
“For our collectors, they really wouldn’t have considered this just because the reselling opportunities are quite slender,” Tordoff said.
Georgiadis’s son Anastasios said that while he was disappointed the artwork had failed to sell, he felt his father was not ready to let it go. “It’s really the last piece of him that we have,” Anastasios, 37, said. “We wanted to see it go to somebody who would appreciate and take care of it while raising money and awareness for a very important cause.”
Ettinger said he was speaking to several interested parties and hoped to sell the piece in the coming days — or failing that, at a gala for the heart association in June. “It was disappointing last night,” he said. “But I think it will have a happy ending.”
Zach Kram is a national NBA writer for ESPN.com, specializing in short- and long-term trends across the league’s analytics landscape. He previously worked at The Ringer covering the NBA and MLB. You can follow Zach on X via @zachkram.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were reeling at the end of February.
They’d just lost to the league’s worst team, the Utah Jazz, in a game in which Anthony Edwards was suspended for exceeding the NBA’s technical foul limit. They were stuck with a 32-29 record, ninth in the West, and their big offseason trade of Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo looked like a bust.
In sum, Minnesota had seemingly regressed from upstart conference finalist to also-ran, and the franchise was dealing with an ongoing ownership dispute for good measure.
But in March, a switch flipped inside the Target Center. Over the rest of the regular season, the Timberwolves went 17-4, rising out of the play-in morass to the No. 6 seed. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in five games apiece — eliminating LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler III and the injured Stephen Curry along the way — to return to the Western Conference finals. They even resolved their long-simmering ownership fracas.
And although the Timberwolves lost Game 1 of the conference finals in a blowout against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder, they’ve proved they aren’t your average No. 6 seed. Instead, they have a solid chance to become just the third No. 6 seed in NBA history to reach the championship round, joining the 1995 Houston Rockets, who won the Finals, and the 1981 Rockets, who lost there.
Ahead of Game 2 of the West finals (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), let’s examine how the Timberwolves turned their season around, the stars who have stepped up and how exactly the top-seeded Thunder took it all away.
A new strength emerges
From March 1, the Timberwolves had the second-best record (17-4) and point differential (plus-11.4) in the NBA.
To be fair, they benefited from an easy schedule. According to ESPN Analytics, Minnesota had the league’s second-easiest schedule in March and April, and the average team would’ve been expected to post a plus-2.6 point differential in that stretch.
Still, Minnesota’s plus-8.8 schedule-adjusted point differential over that span (11.4 minus 2.6) would have rated near the top of the league. The Timberwolves’ late-season surge was more a reflection of their strengths than their opponents’ weaknesses.
The fuel that powered that surge was a surprise, though. Since trading for Rudy Gobert in 2022, the Timberwolves have generally embraced a defensive identity; last season, they led the league in defensive rating, but ranked just 17th on offense. So when their defense declined from elite to merely good this season, the team tumbled in the standings.
Minnesota’s defense didn’t change much during the hot streak: It ranked sixth through February and seventh in March and April. But the team’s offensive rank rose from 13th at the end of February to second in March and April; only the Thunder scored more efficiently than Minnesota over that span.
The Timberwolves’ offense improved in large part because of success at the rim. During their 21-game surge, the Timberwolves took the fewest midrange shots in the league, per Cleaning the Glass, as they made a more concerted effort to attack the basket.
That approach has carried over to the playoffs, where Minnesota ranks second in rim rate (behind the Detroit Pistons) and last in midrange frequency. Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Timberwolves generated the most points per 100 possessions off drives, according to GeniusIQ, signaling their aggression inside the paint.
They also improved on their finishing once they arrived at the rim. The Timberwolves ranked 21st in field goal percentage on dunks and layups before March, per GeniusIQ, but they’re up to sixth place since then.
A surging star: Randle finds his groove
No player symbolizes the Timberwolves’ rise better than Randle, who spent most of his debut season in Minnesota struggling to fill the void left by Towns’ departure.
Although Randle entered the season with a terrible playoff résumé — across two postseason runs as a Knick, he shot 34% from the field and had more turnovers than assists — he had always been a reliable regular-season presence. In his last four seasons in New York, Randle made three All-Star teams and received two All-NBA nods.
But he’s not a one-for-one replacement for Towns; Randle is a better playmaker than the 7-footer, but a much worse shooter who’s more methodical on the ball. Until March, he struggled to mesh that novel skill set within Minnesota’s existing offensive infrastructure, which typically deferred to Edwards and Mike Conley to initiate actions.
Yet by the time he returned from a right adductor strain at the start of March, Randle had enough reps to fit in better. And he employed the classic, time-tested “shoot better” strategy, dramatically improving from both 2- and 3-point range. His hot streak has continued in the playoffs.
Before March, Randle was averaging 0.92 points per isolation, per GeniusIQ, which ranked 53rd out of 64 players with at least 150 isolations. But since then, Randle is averaging 1.12 points per isolation, which ranks sixth among 21 players with at least 150 plays and places him next to star scorers like Jalen Brunson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The other former Knick who joined Randle in the trade also found his legs as the season went on. Through his first 25 games in Minnesota, DiVincenzo had made just 32% of his 3-pointers, and though he rose to 37% by mid-January, a toe strain kept him out of the lineup for more than a month.
But after DiVincenzo returned, he made a scorching 45% of his 3-point tries, which was even better than the Timberwolves expected when they added him to their perimeter rotation last fall. All of a sudden, a once-rotten trade looked splendid, as all the key parts were flourishing for their new teams.
How OKC neutralizes the Wolves’ offense
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Anthony Edwards confident Wolves will bounce back in Game 2
Anthony Edwards breaks down the Thunder’s defense and says the Timberwolves will be ready for Game 2.
Here’s the bad news for Minnesota, which has been the second-best team in the NBA since March. The team with the best metrics since March? The Thunder, of course, with a 20-3 record and plus-13.3 point differential to close the regular season, while playing a much tougher schedule than Minnesota.
That comparison underscores the difficult matchup the Timberwolves face in the conference finals — even at their best, they still couldn’t quite keep pace.
In Game 1 in the conference finals, Randle kept up his end of the bargain, scoring a team-high 28 points on stellar 9-for-13 shooting. (One assist versus five turnovers hurt his overall stat line, however.)
The Thunder shut off everything else that had powered Minnesota’s offense over the past two-plus months. The Timberwolves scored just 20 points in the paint in Game 1, which is less than half their previous low in the postseason, and is tied for the lowest output for any team in a playoff game since 2016-17, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
Because Oklahoma City’s perimeter defenders are better than their counterparts on the Lakers and Warriors, the Thunder can stick with the Timberwolves’ drivers, forcing awkward passes back out to the perimeter instead of high-percentage attempts at the rim.
“They clogged the paint,” Edwards said after the game. “That’s what they do. They don’t got much size down there, so they bank on us not making shots, I guess. Because every time I go to the rim, it’s like four people in the paint.”
The Thunder are happy to surrender 3-pointers, ranking 28th in opponent 3-point rate in the regular season, per Cleaning the Glass. And the Timberwolves are happy to take them, putting up 51 3 triples in Game 1. Whether the Timberwolves can come back to upset the No. 1 seed may hinge on whether they can make the Thunder pay for that approach.
Unfortunately, most of their shooters have gone cold at the wrong time. Even in series wins against the Lakers and Warriors, Minnesota won despite its poor 3-point shooting. The five Timberwolves who take 3s other than Edwards and Randle — DiVincenzo, Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker — shot a collective 38% from distance in the regular season but have declined to 32% in the playoffs. Out of 48 players who have attempted at least 40 3-pointers in the playoffs, Conley ranks 43rd, Alexander-Walker ranks 46th and DiVincenzo ranks 48th in quantified shot making, per GeniusIQ, which measures a player’s actual shot accuracy compared to his expected accuracy.
In theory, their luck should regress to the norm soon, meaning more made 3s are on the way. But that backcourt trio combined to go just 6-for-26 from distance in Game 1 against the Thunder, who were content to wall off the paint and, as Edwards said, bank on Minnesota’s ice-cold shooters staying that way.
For Minnesota to score enough to beat the Thunder and reach the first Finals in franchise history, they must check three boxes:
Randle must keep playing the best high-stakes basketball of his career.
The role players must start shooting more like they did in the regular season.
Edwards must fulfill his role as the leading star on this team.
The Thunder present a rough matchup for him, however — and not just because, with Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso, they’re well equipped to shadow his every move with multiple all-world defenders.
Edwards took a major step forward beyond the arc this season, as he led the league in total 3-pointers with 320 and made 39.5% of his attempts, up from 35.3% before this year. But curiously, he struggled to convert his 2-point attempts. According to GeniusIQ data, combining regular season and playoff stats, Edwards’ accuracy ranks in the 27th percentile or worse in the restricted area, the key and the midrange.
The Thunder already have the best interior defense in the league: They allowed the lowest opposing field goal percentage at the rim this season and the fewest points in the paint. And if Edwards can’t crack that shell, he won’t be able to score enough to threaten them.
Edwards expressed optimism after Game 1, despite scoring only 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting in a game his team lost by 26. “I definitely got to shoot more,” he said. “I only took 13 f—ing shots. … Got to go watch some film and pick it apart. We’ll figure it out.”
The Timberwolves have a chance to do so; it’s no fluke that they had the NBA’s second-best offense for such a long stretch. But the Thunder have one of the best defenses in NBA history, and nobody has figured out how to beat it yet.
After today’s Warhammer Skulls Showcase and its deluge of announcements, it might be hard to remember a time when great Warhammer games weren’t falling down upon us like so much steel rain. But I remember! In fact, I recall a time when things were so dire that the original Space Marine—a decent enough character action game with a plot so predictable you might confuse it for a sundial—felt like the second coming of the God Emperor himself.
Well, get ready to experience a second second coming of the God Emperor himself: it was announced at the Skulls event that Space Marine will be getting its very own gentle remaster treatment alongside the venerable Dawn of War. The new Space Marine Master Crafted edition releases June 10, only a couple weeks away.
The new version will brush up those decidedly 2011-looking textures and character models, offer newly remastered audio, and support 4K resolution. The trailer also teases improved UI and a modernised control scheme, but the brief snippet they showed doesn’t give much to go on. I think that’s a new radial weapon select wheel?
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition – Official Announce Trailer – YouTube
Maybe the weirdest aspect of this remaster is that all the orks in the trailer are now seemingly Goffs, wearing black armor with iconic checker patterns on the shoulders. In the original Space Marine, they just wore generic leather armor as far as I remember. According to PCGamesN, developer SneakyBox noted that it’s part of an effort to realign the game’s portrayal of orks to be more canon-friendly—a mission that took a bunch of model tweaks and “over 100 new voice lines.”
And that’s… sort of it! It does come bundled with all the original game’s DLC, but so does the anniversary edition from a few years back, and you can grab that now for 10 bucks. I had a lot of fun with the game’s sorta-kinda Gears of War-inspired multiplayer back in the day, so I’m happy to see it make some sort of return (with cross-play this time!). That said, whatever new audience this remaster is after, it’ll inevitably have to compete with the bigger, bolder, more popular sequel.
If you’re chomping at the bit to squash heretics in 4K, the Master Crafted Edition of Space Marine is available to wishlist on Steam.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
As Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks look to capture their first championship since 1973, cheering Jalen on will be his wife, Dr. Alison Marks. “She’s always been by my side and I’m lucky to have her,” Jalen told People of Ali.
During the playoffs, fans have spotted him signing “I love you” to Ali in the crowd:
Here’s what you need to know about Jalen Brunson’s wife, Ali
Jalen and Ali met in high school.
They both went to Adlai Stevenson High School in the suburbs of Chicago—here they are at homecoming back in 2014:
And at prom:
After graduating high school, Jalen went to Villanova and Ali to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for undergrad. While she was there, she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and the Pre-Physical Therapy Club. They dated long distance throughout college.
Ali got her DPT at Northwestern.
Ali graduated from Northwestern University with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) in 2021, then became a “Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist.”
After graduating, Ali started working at W.B. Carrell Memorial Clinic in Dallas, Texas. At the time, Brunson was playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
She now runs a boutique physical therapy practice in Westchester.
“My passion is integrating physical therapy based methods with conventional strength training to provide a more personalized and effective treatment plan,” she writes on her site. “If you want to stay active without pain, you’ve come to the right place. I work with people of all ages and abilities, there’s no excuse not to start right now.” She isn’t currently accepting new clients, however.
Jalen and Ali tied the knot in July 2023.
Jalen proposed on the basketball court of their high school gym.
They got married at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, and Ali changed her name to Alison Marks Brunson. “We wanted it to be a big big party: celebratory and joyful, with lights, lasers, a fun DJ, good food, good drinks,” she told People.
During the party, Ali changed into her prom dress as a surprise for Jalen.
She became a mom last summer.
Jalen and Ali welcomed their first child, daughter Jordyn James Brunson, on July 31, 2024.
She has two dogs.
Jalen and Ali have two doodles, Kona and Stevie, who have their own Instagram account.
SEGA and Relic Entertainment have announced Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition, a remaster of the original Warhammer 40K: Space Marine that initially launched on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2011.
Announced during the Warhammer Skulls livestream event, this remaster will be arriving on PC and Xbox Series X/S in a matter of weeks on June 10, 2025. There’s currently no news regarding a potential PS5 launch, though it could just be because this will be a timed console-exclusive for Xbox Series consoles. It’ll also be available to play through Xbox Game Pass on day one.
Developer SneakyBox was the studio SEGA chose to work on this remaster, and is a “thoughtful restoration” of the original game, according to SneakyBox producer Vaidas Mikelskas (per IGN).
“Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition isn’t just a technical upgrade – it’s a thoughtful restoration. We aimed to preserve the spirit of the original while modernizing the experience for today’s players. This is more than just Master Crafted Edition, it’s a respectful dialogue between past and present, preserving what made the original special while making it shine for a new generation of players.”
This new version lets players enjoy the first Space Marine game at 4K with remastered audio, an overhaul to the control scheme, improved character models, textures, and all of it is applied to the original game and every bit of downloadable content it received in the years after launch.
You can add the Space Marine Master Crafted Edition to your wishlist on Steam, Xbox, and the Epic Games Store, and it’ll be available on June 10 for $39.99 USD. Last year, the long-awaited sequel, Space Marine 2, was one of the biggest games of the year. Though it might not have reinvented the wheel, it provided a very fun and bloody time, even if it was repetitive.
Following up that success with a remaster of the first game is great news for fans of Space Marine 2, especially those new to the series, as they now have the chance to revisit the first game without having to play the original 14-year-old version.
Also announced during today’s Warhammer Skulls event was Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy, the next Warhammer CRPG from Owlcat.
New Yorkers have a new way to rally behind the Knicks while on their daily commutes.
On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced that streets across Manhattan will be temporarily co-named after Knicks players. The decision was made to honor the Knicks’ trip to the Eastern Conference finals.
“The Knicks embody the spirit of New York — resilient, passionate and unstoppable,” Mayor Adams said in a news release. “On the path to a championship, we recognize the hard work and determination that has gotten this team to the Eastern Conference Finals and we’re celebrating this team by temporarily co-naming our city streets so all New Yorkers can celebrate their Knicks pride.
“Nearly 8.5 million New Yorkers, and millions more, are behind the New York Knicks as they continue this incredible journey.”
Co-named streets begin on 6th Avenue and West Washington Place with Precious Achiuwa Place and continue southward to 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street with Josh Hart Street.
Karl-Anthony Towns Square is on the corner of 7th Avenue and West 32nd Street, while Jalen Brunson Boulevard is on 7th Avenue and West 11th Street.
Here is a full list:
Precious Achiuwa Place — 6th Avenue and West Washington Place
OG Anunoby Alley — 6th Avenue and West 8th Street
Mikal Bridges Block — 7th Avenue and West 25th Street
Jalen Brunson Boulevard — 7th Avenue and West 11th Street
Pacome Dadiet Drive — 6th Avenue and West 4th Street
Josh Hart Street — 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street
Ariel Hukporti Street — 7th Avenue and West 55th Street
Tyler Kolek Lane — 7th Avenue and West 13th Street
Miles McBride Street — 6th Avenue and Minetta Lane
Cam Payne Place — 6th Avenue and Bleecker Street
Mitchell Robinson Road — 7th Avenue and West 23rd Street
Landry Shamet Circle — 7th Avenue and West 44th Street
Karl-Anthony Towns Square — 7th Avenue and West 32nd Street
P.J. Tucker Terrace — 7th Avenue and West 17th Street
Delon Wright Circle — 6th Avenue and Houston Street
The co-named street signs will be displayed as long as the Knicks stay alive in the playoffs.
New York’s berth in the Eastern Conference finals marks its first since the 1999-2000 season. They will host Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers — their first time hosting a conference finals game since June 2, 2000, when the Pacers defeated the Knicks 102-88.
