Lindsey Vonn to Retire

By BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports Vonn leaves as the greatest women’s skier in history with her 82 World Cup victories second only to Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark, who won 86.https://nyti.ms/2DO5AAy

LeBron James Shows No Rust in Big Return

By VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports In his first game since Christmas, James returned from injury and came an assist shy of a triple-double as the Lakers beat the Clippers.https://nyti.ms/2G2Qae6

In Gulf Dispute, Fight Over Qatar’s World Cup Plays Out Through Proxies

By JAMES MONTAGUE and TARIQ PANJA from NYT Sports Public relations consultants, Gulf financing and whispered tips: Leaked emails and documents offer a window into a behind-the-scenes campaign to sabotage the 2022 World Cup.https://nyti.ms/2DO1wAg

It’s Super Bowl Week for the Rams, 1980

By JOHN BRANCH from NYT Sports Our correspondent teleports to the past to give us this dispatch from a time when the Rams were Super Bowl-bound celebrities and the future in Los Angeles looked … O.K., it got complicated.https://nyti.ms/2G0yfox

How Did We Get Here? An Illustrated Guide to the N.F.L. Playoffs

By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN and CHRIS MORRIS from NYT Sports From the Colts toppling the Texans to the pass interference noncall heard ’round the world, the lead-up to this year’s Super Bowl had no shortage of drama.https://nyti.ms/2DPARDv

How Tom Brady Became New England’s Favorite Adopted Son

By BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports He is not from there, and spends a lot of time in New York. But in New England, Brady has become as close as it gets to a Kennedy.https://nyti.ms/2S5tNLP

Has the Premier League Transfer Bubble Burst?

By RORY SMITH from NYT Sports A quiet January window is the best evidence that the league may have finally overcome its addiction to the short-term high of a lavish purchase.https://nyti.ms/2HIsAVC