In a groundbreaking decision, the NFL has confirmed that arbitrator Stephen Burbank denied Jimmy Graham’s request to officially be declared a wide receiver under the NFL’s franchise-tag rules.    

Torii Hunter hit three RBI singles and capped a six-run burst in the sixth inning that sent the Detroit Tigers over the Oakland Athletics 9-3 Wednesday for a three-game sweep.    

French Open runner-up Simona Halep won the last 11 games of the match to advance to the Wimbledon semifinals with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany    

Defending champion Andy Murray is out of Wimbledon, beaten in straight sets by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals Wednesday.    

College of Charleston coach Doug Wojcik is being investigated by the school for verbal abuse of players, sources confirmed to ESPN.com on Wednesday.    

The Brooklyn Nets are closing in on a deal to hire Lionel Hollins as their next head coach, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.    

Buffalo Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso, one of the team’s rising young players, tore his ACL while working out in Oregon and is expected to miss the season, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.    

As they chase free agents to join with their superstars, the Miami Heat are telling free agents they expect to have as much as $12 million in salary-cap space after hopefully getting LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to re-sign, sources told ESPN.c    

Despite the Indiana Pacers’ heartfelt movie tribute and presentation to Lance Stephenson, the two sides are currently at an impasse over a near deal, according to sources close to the situation.    

Oscar Pistorius is severely traumatized after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year and will become an increasing suicide risk unless he continues to get mental health care, the judge overseeing his murder trial heard on Wednesday.