Louisa Thomas
Louisa Thomas, a staff writer at The New Yorker, contributes the weekly column The Sporting Scene. Her books include “Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams.”
What Is Lost in Luka Dončić’s Glow-Up
The rebrand of the Los Angeles Laker—who appeared on the cover of Men’s Health looking lean, buff, and bronze—makes sense. That doesn’t make it less sad.
Women’s Basketball Needs All the Stars
The W.N.B.A.’s All-Star Game offered a vision of a league not centered on one player but elevated by many.
Bottoms Up for the Big Dumper
Cal Raleigh, of the Seattle Mariners, and of the eponymous big butt, has been drawing a lot of attention lately—but he deserves even more.
Wimbledon in the Age of Sincaraz
Jannik Sinner avenged his loss at the French Open with a commanding victory over Carlos Alcaraz, in the latest chapter of a transcendent rivalry.
The Sincaraz Era Is Tennis Reborn
In Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the sport has not only its next great rivalry but a moment that highlights everything the sport can be.
The Caitlin Clark Rules
The basketball star’s domination on the court is one of the most inspiring things in all of sports. Does it represent a revolution or evolution?
Tyrese Haliburton Has Worn Me Down
The Indiana Pacers star is corny, he’s awkward, and he’s thrilling.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Good Vibes Are Being Put to the Test
The young team’s rise has been fuelled by a happy chemistry. But, after a Game One loss in the N.B.A. Finals, will it be enough?
A Big-League Bet on Pro Softball
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League, led by the former M.L.B. executive Kim Ng, plans to capitalize on the surge of interest in women’s sports and to finally give the game its due.
Gaël Monfils Is Winning in His Own Way
He made his French Open début two decades ago—and has been electrifying the tennis world ever since.
What’s Really Startling About the Bill Belichick Affair
Belichick always kept tight control of his dealings and a considerable distance from the press. Then he began dating a much younger woman named Jordon Hudson.
What if the Mets Are Winners?
From the daily newsletter: an eternal baseball showdown. Plus: Kanye West has found his audience; and “Overcompensating” is a new kind of coming-out comedy.
Why Basketball Is Different in the Playoffs
As the stakes rise, the physicality of the game increases, too—and that may give the less favored teams a better shot at upsets.
If the Mets Are No Longer Underdogs, Are They Still the Mets?
New York’s other baseball team has the league’s richest owner and just poached one of the game’s best hitters from the Yankees. They may never be the same.
Rudy Gobert Takes Out the Trash
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ center has been a perennial target for smack talk, but in the N.B.A. playoffs he delivers a masterclass in clapping back.
The Launch of the Torpedo Bat
The New York Yankees quietly brought a physics experiment to the plate. Then came the home-run barrage.
JuJu Watkins Is the Moment
The U.S.C. basketball star’s magnetism is generated by nowness, by the way she seems to embody an ever-refreshing present.
Louisa Thomas on John Updike’s “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu”
The article, about Ted Williams’s final game, was described as the best piece about baseball The New Yorker ever printed—which, Updike later allowed, was small praise.
Mirra Andreeva Is Just Getting Started
Pro tennis has shifted away from teen queens, but the seventeen-year-old has joined the ranks of her idols and toppled them.
Team Canada’s Revenge, Served Ice-Cold
The hockey team’s thrilling victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off sent a clear message to the Americans and Donald Trump.
What Is Lost in Luka Dončić’s Glow-Up
The rebrand of the Los Angeles Laker—who appeared on the cover of Men’s Health looking lean, buff, and bronze—makes sense. That doesn’t make it less sad.
Women’s Basketball Needs All the Stars
The W.N.B.A.’s All-Star Game offered a vision of a league not centered on one player but elevated by many.
Bottoms Up for the Big Dumper
Cal Raleigh, of the Seattle Mariners, and of the eponymous big butt, has been drawing a lot of attention lately—but he deserves even more.
Wimbledon in the Age of Sincaraz
Jannik Sinner avenged his loss at the French Open with a commanding victory over Carlos Alcaraz, in the latest chapter of a transcendent rivalry.
The Sincaraz Era Is Tennis Reborn
In Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the sport has not only its next great rivalry but a moment that highlights everything the sport can be.
The Caitlin Clark Rules
The basketball star’s domination on the court is one of the most inspiring things in all of sports. Does it represent a revolution or evolution?
Tyrese Haliburton Has Worn Me Down
The Indiana Pacers star is corny, he’s awkward, and he’s thrilling.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Good Vibes Are Being Put to the Test
The young team’s rise has been fuelled by a happy chemistry. But, after a Game One loss in the N.B.A. Finals, will it be enough?
A Big-League Bet on Pro Softball
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League, led by the former M.L.B. executive Kim Ng, plans to capitalize on the surge of interest in women’s sports and to finally give the game its due.
Gaël Monfils Is Winning in His Own Way
He made his French Open début two decades ago—and has been electrifying the tennis world ever since.
What’s Really Startling About the Bill Belichick Affair
Belichick always kept tight control of his dealings and a considerable distance from the press. Then he began dating a much younger woman named Jordon Hudson.
What if the Mets Are Winners?
From the daily newsletter: an eternal baseball showdown. Plus: Kanye West has found his audience; and “Overcompensating” is a new kind of coming-out comedy.
Why Basketball Is Different in the Playoffs
As the stakes rise, the physicality of the game increases, too—and that may give the less favored teams a better shot at upsets.
If the Mets Are No Longer Underdogs, Are They Still the Mets?
New York’s other baseball team has the league’s richest owner and just poached one of the game’s best hitters from the Yankees. They may never be the same.
Rudy Gobert Takes Out the Trash
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ center has been a perennial target for smack talk, but in the N.B.A. playoffs he delivers a masterclass in clapping back.
The Launch of the Torpedo Bat
The New York Yankees quietly brought a physics experiment to the plate. Then came the home-run barrage.
JuJu Watkins Is the Moment
The U.S.C. basketball star’s magnetism is generated by nowness, by the way she seems to embody an ever-refreshing present.
Louisa Thomas on John Updike’s “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu”
The article, about Ted Williams’s final game, was described as the best piece about baseball The New Yorker ever printed—which, Updike later allowed, was small praise.
Mirra Andreeva Is Just Getting Started
Pro tennis has shifted away from teen queens, but the seventeen-year-old has joined the ranks of her idols and toppled them.
Team Canada’s Revenge, Served Ice-Cold
The hockey team’s thrilling victory in the 4 Nations Face-Off sent a clear message to the Americans and Donald Trump.