Jaelene Daniels and the North Carolina Courage have parted ways again after the club declined a team option on her contract for the 2023 season.

The defender retired from the NWSL in 2020 but returned to the league last December when she re-signed with the Courage. Daniels’ return immediately sparked backlash, as she had refused a call-up to the U.S. women’s national team in 2017 because she did not want to wear a rainbow-themed LGBTQ+ Pride jersey.

She reached out to Courage teammates and fans with a statement after her signing, saying, “My beliefs may call me to live differently, but my love runs deep for all.”

Courage owner Steve Malik defended Daniels’ signing in a statement. While the decision “sparked a lot of discussion internally, and with a cross section of fans,” the club felt she had made a “positive impact” on their “successful history,” Malik said.

[ROSTER MOVE]: The Courage have declined a team option on defender Jaelene Daniels for the 2023 season, making her an unrestricted free agent.

The club wishes Jaelene the best in her future endeavors. pic.twitter.com/wn9h5AD4NZ

— NC Courage (@TheNCCourage) October 17, 2022

Daniels, 29, started her NWSL career in 2015 with the Western New York Flash, the franchise that became the Courage in 2017. A two-time NWSL champion with the franchise in 2016 and in 2018, she announced her retirement in November 2020.

After the 2019 World Cup, her former USWNT teammate Ashlyn Harris — who is married to Ali Krieger, another of Daniels’ former USWNT teammates — slammed Daniels for her stance on the LGBTQ+ community, calling her intolerant and “homophobic.”

“You don’t belong in a sport that aims to unite and bring people together,” Harris said. “You would never fit into our pack or what this team stands for. Don’t you dare say our team is ‘not a welcoming place for Christians.’ You weren’t around long enough to know what this team stood for. This is actually an insult to the Christians on our team.”

When Daniels returned to North Carolina ahead of the 2022 season, she did so at a time of turmoil for the franchise. Paul Riley, who had coached the Flash and then the Courage from 2016-21, was fired after the 2021 season when sexual misconduct allegations against him were made public in The Athletic.

During the 2022 season, Daniels again refused to wear a Pride jersey. The team left her off the roster for a July home match that served as the Courage’s Pride night.

“Jaelene will not be rostered tonight as she has made the decision to not wear our Pride jersey. While we’re disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself,” Nikki Stoudt, North Carolina’s communications manager, said in a statement.

Courage forward Merritt Mathias issued a statement in May saying she recognized the pain that re-signing Daniels, among other decisions by the club, caused LGBTQ+ fans in particular, and that she sympathizes “as a player who is part of the community.”

“There is a group here that truly, truly loves and supports and is here for the LGBTQ community,” Mathias said.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone maintained her 400-meter crown this weekend, completing her second straight 400-meter events sweep at the Grand Slam Track series' Miami meet on Sunday.

One month after completing the sweep at the first Grand Slam meet in Kingston, Jamaica, the 25-year-old US track star won Saturday's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.07 seconds before also taking Sunday's 400-meter flat event in 49.69 seconds — a race that earned McLaughlin-Levrone a $100,000 winner's check.

McLaughlin-Levrone has a veritable stranglehold on the 400-meter hurdles, dominating that race since her last loss at the 2019 World Championships.

In that span, she blasted through six world records across 12 straight victories — lowering the women's 400-meter hurdles world standard from 52.16 seconds to a blistering 50.37-second pace.

With two more Grand Slam meets in Philadelphia and LA in the coming weeks, McLaughlin-Levrone is considering a literal change of pace, temporarily switching to run the 100-meter events — a distance she hasn't competed in since 2018.

Should she take on the shorter sprints, McLaughlin-Levrone could find herself racing against the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter hurdles, Masai Russell — who notably posted the second-fastest time in the event's history, not to mention a new US record, by winning in 12.17 seconds on Friday.

How to watch the final two Grand Slam Track meets

McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell, and other track stars will next compete in the third Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia from May 30th through June 1st, before closing out the series in LA between June 27th and June 29th.

All 2025 Grand Slam Track meets stream live on Peacock.

English soccer club London City earned both a trophy and promotion from the UK's second-tier Women's Championship league this weekend, lifting the Michele Kang-owned Lionesses into the top-flight Women's Super League (WSL) next season.

With a 2-2 draw against second-place Birmingham City in Sunday's 2024/25 season finale, London City sealed the single point they needed to claim the second-flight league title and secure their ticket to the 2025/26 WSL campaign.

Originally affiliated with second-tier Millwall FC, the Lionesses separated from the men's side in 2019, and will become the only independent club in the WSL when they join next season.

London City is 'only going up' thanks to Kang

London City's rise is major success story for owner Michele Kang and her multi-team organization Kynisca — which also owns the NWSL's Washington Spirit and French club Lyon — as the Lionesses reach the UK's top-flight just two seasons after Kang's 2023 purchase of the club.

Next fall, London City will take the WSL spot of last season's promoted team, Crystal Palace, who were relegated from the top-tier league last month and currently hold a dismal 2-15-4 record.

Crystal Palace's struggles to compete after leveling up are nothing new, with many promoted clubs often stumbling into relegation after a single season.

That's a pattern Kang aims to break, with the women's sports mogul planning to see the Lionesses rise up the WSL and, later, into Champions League play.

"We have been building a team to be at a minimum, on day one, mid-tier WSL," Kang told the BBC.

"When I first came here a lot of people were concerned for me," Kang explained. "How can an independent women's team survive if you don't have the male team that can provide the brand and resources? Here we are. We made it."

"This is proof, we are only going up."

The 2025 PWHL playoffs are officially set, with the Ottawa Charge and Minnesota Frost punching their postseason tickets in Saturday's final regular-season games to join the first-place Montréal Victoire and second-place Toronto Sceptres in the second-year league's playoff bracket.

While third-place Ottawa secured their postseason spot with a 2-1 overtime victory over Toronto on Saturday, the reigning champion Minnesota Frost staged an improbable late-season surge to claim the fourth and final playoff berth.

Needing two wins in addition to two losses from either the Charge or the Boston Fleet for a chance to defend their 2024 title, Minnesota found another gear in the season's final week.

The Frost first defeated Ottawa 3-0 last Wednesday before handing a crumbling Fleet side an 8-1 Saturday thrashing, leapfrogging Boston to narrowly advance to the playoffs following an up-and-down regular season.

Minnesota's massive momentum grab directly affected this week's 2025 PWHL semifinals pairings.

As first-place finishers, the Victoire had the opportunity to choose their first-round opponent between the third- and fourth-place finishers — with Montréal opting out of facing the Frost to instead open the playoffs against the Charge.

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"This group is hungry, and we're excited for the playoffs," said Victoire captain and the 2024/25 PWHL season's top goal scorer Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're pretty excited to start the playoffs at home, in front of our fans."

Also snagging home-ice advantage is second-place Toronto, who must now overcome Minnesota in their best-of-five semifinal series to earn a spot in the 2025 Walter Cup championship series.

How to watch the 2025 PWHL Playoffs

The puck drops on the 2025 PWHL Playoffs on Wednesday, when No. 2-seed Toronto and No. 4-seed Minnesota will meet on the ice at 7 PM ET.

Top-seeded Montréal's semifinal series against No. 3-seed Ottawa will begin at 7 PM ET on Thursday.

All games will stream live on the PWHL YouTube channel.

The WNBA tipped off its preseason slate this weekend, as early contenders stole the spotlight behind massive wins, signaling potential success in the 2025 regular-season.

The revamped Indiana Fever walked away as the weekend's big winner, taking down the Washington Mystics in a come-from-behind 79-74 overtime win on Saturday before dominating the Brazil national team 108-44 in front of a sold-out University of Iowa crowd on Sunday.

"I haven't played in, like, 200 days, so I was a little nervous going in," Fever star and Iowa alum Caitlin Clark said after Sunday's game. "The competitive spirit in me — you just want to play really good for these fans."

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LSU grad Angel Reese and former Tigers transfer Hailey Van Lith also shined on the collegiate court, returning to Baton Rouge to help the Chicago Sky defeat Brazil 89-62 on Friday, with Reese noting, "I'm just happy to be back to see all the fans, even down to the security guards, because I know how much was put into this program."

Reese didn't skip a beat in her return from last year's season-ending wrist injury, claiming a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in Friday's clash.

Meanwhile, rookie Van Lith scored her first professional points in the game, posting seven points, five assists, and three rebounds in her 13 minutes off the bench.

Like Van Lith, 2025's overall No. 1 draftee Paige Bueckers saw her first professional action on Friday, scoring 10 points in her Dallas Wings' 112-78 Friday loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

"It's super surreal in terms of the turnaround from where I was two weeks ago to where I am today, but [I'm] just soaking it up and enjoying every moment," Bueckers told reporters after the game.

Golden State selected Sellers with the No. 17 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/CU5VOdTy6x

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 3, 2025

Exhibitions aid roster decisions as cuts loom

While the results don't count, the weekend exhibition allowed coaches and viewers to evaluate fresh talent and new roster combinations ahead of the significant roster cuts that teams must make prior to the 2025 season tip-off on May 16th.

The season's first big-name roster cut came from Golden State on Saturday, when the Valkyries waived guard Shyanne Sellers after taking the standout Maryland alum No. 17 overall in last month's draft.

How to watch this week's WNBA preseason games

The preseason action continues this week with a trio of exhibitions on deck on Tuesday.

First, the Minnesota Lynx will visit the Chicago Sky at 7 PM ET before the LA Sparks square off against new California rival Golden State while the Phoenix Mercury takes on Las Vegas at 10 PM ET.

All games will stream live on WNBA League Pass.