CHARLOTTE

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has defended his perceived lack of patience after firing Frank Reich 11 games into his first season, and defended the team’s decision to draft Bryce Young No. 1 overall.

Three-time All-Pros Julius Peppers and Antonio Gates were chosen as semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2024 in their first year of eligibility.

Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland knew coming into Sunday’s game he needed one more pick-6 to etch his name into the NFL record books.

Americans cut back on retail spending in October, ending six straight months of gains, though the decline was partly driven by falling prices for both gasoline and cars.

A former Michigan football coach has come to the defense of Jim Harbaugh in the ongoing sign-stealing case.

United Auto Workers union leaders shared details of the highlights of the tentative agreement with General Motors.

North Carolina’s photo voter identification law is getting implemented in local elections that wrap up next week.

Morning 4 is a quick roundup of stories we think you should know about to start your day.

Lionel Messi played the entire game on artificial turf in Inter Miami’s season finale, and Charlotte qualified for the MLS playoffs with a 1-0 victory on Saturday night.

Lionel Messi is in the starting lineup for Inter Miami in its MLS season finale against FC Charlotte.

Lionel Messi says he will play in Inter Miami’s season finale on Saturday, although the club hasn’t confirmed that is the actual plan.

Kevin Porter Jr.’s time with the Houston Rockets is over.

NASCAR on Monday rescinded Ryan Blaney’s disqualification at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when series officials found a problem with the template used during post-race inspection.

Twelve Detroit Lions players are listed on the injury report for their week five matchup against the Carolina Panthers, with two players being ruled out, two doubtful, and eight questionable.

NASCAR has added Atlanta Motor Speedway and the road course at Watkins Glen in upstate New York to the playoffs as part of the 2024 Cup Series schedule.

A neighbor who witnessed 9-year-old Charlotte Sena being rescued in upstate New York is describing the scene as right out of a movie.

A 9-year-old girl who vanished during a family camping trip in upstate New York has been found safe following a two day search.

Andy Dalton will start for the Carolina Panthers at quarterback on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks after rookie Bryce Young was ruled out with a sprained ankle.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson has a broken right leg and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, according to coach Frank Reich.

Carolina Panthers two-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Brian Burns returned to practice on Wednesday amid stalled talks on a contract extension.

Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put “politics ahead of his job” by declining to meet with President Joe Biden during Biden's weekend visit to survey Hurricane Idalia’s damage in DeSantis’ state.

Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are criticizing the school’s response to a campus shooting that killed a faculty member.

Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland says he is having surgery to remove a lesion discovered on his brain.

The Carolina Panthers made a move to acquire wide receiver/returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette from the Kansas City Chiefs in a deal involving a swap of conditional 2025 seventh-round draft picks.

The Charlotte Hornets say the sale of the majority stake in the franchise from six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall has been finalized.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges has apologized for “the pain and embarrassment” caused by the domestic violence investigation that kept him out of the league last season.

Jesús Ferreira became the first American to score international hat tricks in consecutive games, and the United States advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals with a 6-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago.

Wyndham Clark shot an 8-under 63 in the Wells Fargo Championship, putting him in position for his first PGA Tour win.

Tyrrell Hatton shot a 6-under 65 to move into a share of the second-round lead at the Wells Fargo Championship, while Rory McIlroy’s bid for a record fourth tournament title hit a major snag.

Alex Bowman will miss at least the next three NASCAR Cup races with a fractured vertebra he suffered in a sprint car crash.

Grant DuBose bet on himself even when nobody else dared.

Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer said the team has no reservations about Bryce Young’s height as it prepares to make the No. 1 overall pick in next week’s NFL draft.

Forward Miles Bridges will need to serve a 10-game suspension once he signs a contract with an NBA team.

Dwane Casey is a good man, a very good man, and the Pistons were lucky to have him.

Dwane Casey announced Sunday in a post-game press conference that he is stepping down as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and will be moving to the front office.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he's hopeful that a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players can get done by the end of this week, though he stopped short of predicting that a deal would actually get struck.

Cam Newton is looking for another shot.

Watch out, No. 1 seeds.

The Detroit Lions and running back David Montgomery have agreed on an $18 million, three-year deal, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Detroit Lions have signed free agent cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to a one-year deal, according to reports.

Jerry Richardson, the Carolina Panthers founder and for years one of the NFL’s most influential owners until a scandal forced him to sell the team, has died.

Kevin Durant scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting in his Suns debut, helping Phoenix snap the Charlotte Hornets’ five-game winning streak with a wire-to-wire 105-91 victory Wednesday night.

LaMelo Ball’s frustrating, injury-plagued season could be over after the point guard broke his right ankle in Charlotte’s 117-106 win over the Detroit Pistons.

LaMelo Ball made six 3-pointers before breaking his right ankle in the third quarter, and the Charlotte Hornets held on to beat the Detroit Pistons 117-106 for their fifth straight victory.

Did you buy a Lucky For Life ticket in Charlotte? You better check your ticket because somebody won $25,000 a year for life in Friday’s drawing.

Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died at the age of 79.

The South Carolina county where Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper started building and then abandoned a new $800 million practice facility has reached a settlement over $21 million in sales tax money given to the NFL team.

LaMelo Ball’s first home game of the season didn’t go anywhere near as well as the All-Star point guard hoped.

Faster, more competitive games have the NFL feeling proud through the first half of the season.

D’Onta Foreman carried 31 times for 130 yards and a touchdown, Laviska Shenault added a 41-yard burst to the end zone and the Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons 25-15 on a rainy night.

Days after trading star running back Christian McCaffrey, the Carolina Panthers ran for a season-high 173 yards and rolled past Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-3.

A police report says Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight was found intoxicated and unconscious in a parking lot with his vehicle in drive when he was arrested for DWI.

A person with direct knowledge of the plans says the PGA Tour is announcing that four tournaments will have elevated status and $20 million purses next year.

Officials in North Carolina say two people were shot and others were injured as they fled gunfire that broke out at a college homecoming concert featuring rapper Asian Doll.

Alex Bowman will miss the next three NASCAR races with a concussion he suffered last month in a crash in NASCAR’s new Next Gen car.

The Charlotte Hornets say All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball will have an MRI on his injured left ankle.

Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama says players who left to compete in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series should be entitled to earn ranking points.

Charlotte Hornets All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball sprained his left ankle in the third quarter of a preseason game against the Washington Wizards when he got his foot stepped on while driving to the basket.

U.S. public health officials say at-risk people who have received just one dose of the monkeypox vaccine have appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick from the virus.

The Americans are big favorites in the Presidents Cup.

NASCAR champion Kyle Larson has signed a three-year contract extension through 2026 with Hendrick Motorsports.

A hospitalized Los Angeles County resident with a compromised immune system has died from monkeypox.

U.S. officials are considering broadening recommendations for who gets vaccinated against monkeypox.

A person familiar with the deal says the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a two-year contract with free agent center Montrezl Harrell.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield has ignited what was already expected to be an emotionally charged Week 1 game against his former team, the Cleveland Browns.

Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule says backup quarterback Sam Darnold and kicker Zane Gonzalez both suffered “significant” injuries in the 21-0 win over the Buffalo Bills on Friday night.

The chill in the housing market is rippling out to the carpenters, landscapers and other small businesses that lose out when fewer homeowners renovate their properties.

The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conferences are welcoming plenty of transfers bouncing between throughout their Southern-footprint leagues.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has four new coaches for this season, all in the same division.

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips says the league is looking for ways to boost its revenue and shrink a rising financial gap with leagues like the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges is facing three felony domestic violence charges in Southern California after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children last month.

Eaton County deputies took Beverly McCallum into custody for the charges of second-degree murder and disinterment/mutilation of a body.

The Los Angeles Police Department says Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges has been charged with felony domestic violence.

Zach LaVine is staying with the Chicago Bulls.

The Detroit Pistons and free agent forward Kevin Knox II have agreed to a 2-year-$6 million deal, The Athletic reports.

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges has been arrested in Los Angeles on the eve of NBA free agency after a warrant was issued, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is going forward with a plan to change its football scheduling model, with the biggest change being the elimination of divisions.

It's turning into another difficult day for airline travelers in the United States.

A massive safety recall and supply disruptions have swept many leading formula brands off store shelves.

The man the physically caught Abraham Lincoln’s assassin founded Nashville, Michigan.

The Charlotte Hornets have fired coach James Borrego.

The Indianapolis Colts have solidified their secondary by signing five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore.

The Charlotte Hornets were delayed getting to the arena for their NBA play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks.

Joel Embiid is about to make history.

For Black girls, the possibility of Ketanji Brown Jackson being the first Black woman on the Supreme Court is a moment of promise, hope and the breaking of yet another barrier.

The largest African American growth in pure numbers over the past decade didn’t take place in traditional hubs of Black life such as Atlanta or Houston, but rather in smaller cities with lower profiles.

Kyrie Irving hit nine 3-pointers and scored a season-high 50 points, and the Brooklyn Nets snapped a four-game skid with a 132-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Kelly Olynyk made a fadeaway jumper from the baseline at the overtime buzzer and the Detroit Pistons beat Charlotte 127-126, their first victory over the Hornets in nearly 4 1/2 years.

John Wozniak gave his 1964 University of Detroit Mercy class ring to his son Dave Wozniak before he passed in 2007. Less than 10 months later, the ring was stolen from Dave Wozniak’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

LeBron James has continued swelling in his left knee and is not with the Los Angeles Lakers against the Atlanta Hawks.

We’re six episodes into the reboot of “Sex and the City” series called “And Just Like That,” and after a bit of a rough start, the new show is finally starting to feel like the show that viewers fell in love with over 20 years ago.

Kelly Oubre Jr. hit a career-high nine of Charlotte’s franchise-record 24 3-pointers and the Hornets routed the Pistons 140-111 on Wednesday night.

Devin Booker scored 24 points, Jalen Smith tied a career high with 19 points and 12 rebounds and the short-handed Phoenix Suns hammered the Charlotte Hornets 133-99.

Tom Brady threw for 232 yards and a touchdown, Antonio Brown made a grand return to the lineup after missing the last eight games and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-6 on Sunday to clinch their first NFC South title since 2007.

The fake slide Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett used to help clear his path for a long touchdown run in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game is now against the rules.

Kenny Pickett accounted for three touchdowns and Erick Hallett II returned one of Pittsburgh’s four interceptions for a touchdown to help the No. 17 Panthers beat No. 18 Wake Forest 45-21 in Saturday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

NASCAR will return both practice and qualifying to its weekend schedule for all three national series in 2022.

Terry Rozier had a big jump-ball win and made two late free throws to help the Charlotte Hornets snap the Golden State Warriors’ winning streak at seven, 106-102 on Sunday night.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made it clear in a 30-minute teleconference Friday that he doesn’t hold any grudges about the team releasing him prior to the 2020 season, calling it “irrelevant” to him now.