Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs ran roughshod over the injury-depleted Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the French superstar matching his NBA season high with 40 points in a 136-108 rout.

Wembanyama, whose California swing will include a second All-Star Game appearance on Sunday, added 12 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, connecting on 13 of 20 attempts from the field in his 26 minutes of work.

The Lakers were without a raft of starters, with LeBron James and Luka Doncic sidelined along with Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart.

Doncic missed a third straight game with a hamstring strain. James sat out the second night of a back-to-back to manage foot arthritis. 

Wembanyama took full advantage, setting the tone with 25 points in just eight minutes on the floor in the first quarter.

He had 37 by halftime -- the most by any player in a first half this season -- when the Spurs led 84-55.

He cooled off in the third quarter, but matched the 40 points he put up on opening night before sitting out the fourth period with the rest of the Spurs starters.

The only down note for the Spurs was an injury to 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, who took a hard fall under the basket in the second quarter and exited with a pelvic contusion.

- Siakam shines -

The Indiana Pacers, fueled by 30 points from Pascal Siakam, stunned the New York Knicks 137-134 in an overtime thriller at Madison Square Garden.

Eight Pacers players scored in double figures to bring home the win in a game that featured a season-high 39 lead changes.

Andrew Nembhard added 24 points and 10 rebounds and Quenton Jackson scored 19, including two game-sealing free-throws with 3.9 seconds left in overtime.

Jalen Brunson scored 40 points with five rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks. Josh Hart chipped in a triple-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points apiece -- Towns drilling two free-throws to force overtime before fouling out in the extra session.

- 'Collective spirit' -

The Pacers scored the first nine points in overtime before the Knicks staged a furious rally, cutting the deficit to one on a three-pointer from Brunson before Jackson closed it out at the line.

The Pacers have been a shadow of the team that beat the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals last season with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in their NBA Finals loss to Oklahoma City.

But they snapped a four-game skid with just their fourth road win of the season, this one against a Knicks team that came in tied for the second most home wins in the league with 21.

"This was a really important game for us," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. "The season that we've had, this environment, the opponent -- our guys had a great collective spirit and collective will tonight."

In Houston, Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead the Rockets to a 102-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Down by one at halftime, the Rockets took control in the third quarter. They led by six going into the fourth and quickly pushed the lead to 15 to cruise home.

bb/pst

US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin suffered more Winter Olympic heartbreak on Tuesday as Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych vowed to continue wearing a banned helmet depicting victims of the war with Russia. 

On the ice in Milan, US figure-skating sensation Ilia Malinin further burnished his growing reputation as he closed in on a second gold medal in his debut Games.

America's top team of Shiffrin and individual downhill champion Breezy Johnson were firm favourites to win the women's team combined event in Cortina d'Ampezzo after Johnson topped the times in the morning's downhill run.

But Shiffrin stuttered through the slalom -- her specialist event -- and the US pair finished in a disappointing fourth place, with Austrians Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber claiming gold.

Defeat will sting for 30-year-old Shiffrin, who is the most successful World Cup skier of all time and came into the Games in red-hot form.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist had a point to prove after a disastrous showing at the 2022 Beijing Games, where she failed to win a single medal.

But Shiffrin was a full second slower than Emma Aicher, whose session-leading time of 44.38sec gave Germany silver while another US pairing, Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan, took bronze.

The American said she would learn from her disappointing run, which cranks up the pressure ahead of next week's slalom, the final alpine skiing event of the Games.

"I didn't quite find a comfort level that like allows me to produce full speed, so I'm going to have to learn what to do, what to adjust in the short time we have before the other tech races," she said.

Shiffrin's poor performance denied Johnson a second gold of the Games after she triumphed in the downhill on Sunday, when Lindsey Vonn suffered a broken leg in a brutal crash.

Vonn, 41, who had been expected to share star billing with Shiffrin at the Milan-Cortina Games, revealed on Monday she had suffered a "complex tibia fracture" when she crashed in the downhill and would need "multiple surgeries to fix properly".

- Helmet row -

Away from the ski slopes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Ukrainian skeleton racer Heraskevych from wearing a helmet that features pictures of sportspeople killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but has allowed him to wear a black armband instead.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the headwear contravened guidelines but that the IOC would "make an exception to the guidelines to allow him to wear a black armband during competition to make that commemoration".

Gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter, though athletes are permitted to express their views in press conferences and on social media. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had defended Heraskevych's right to wear the helmet, thanking him "for reminding the world of the price of our struggle".

And the athlete, who was one of Ukraine's two flag bearers in the opening ceremony in Italy, told reporters at the Cortina Sliding Centre that he had no intention of backing down.

"I used it in all trainings... I used it today, I will use it tomorrow, and I will use it on race day (Thursday)," he told reporters.

Heraskevych said he disagreed with the IOC's decision "because I truly believe that we didn't violate any rules".

In a strongly worded Instagram post he said: "Even though the IOC wants to betray the memory of these athletes, I will not betray them."

Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi told AFP this month that Russia has killed "more than 650 athletes and coaches" since it invaded Ukraine, according to the latest data.

In late-evening action, figure skater Malinin, unbeaten in individual competition for two years, performed his trademark backflip to top the standings in the short programme of the singles competition, delighting the crowd.

The 21-year-old, with the team title already under his belt, is well placed to win gold after Friday's free skating section.

Earlier Tuesday, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo added a seventh Olympic gold to his career haul as Norway stayed top of the medals table with six golds.

In the Olympic women's ice hockey preliminary round, the United States hammered reigning champions Canada 5-0.

jw/bsp 

Boston star Jayson Tatum took another step in his return from a torn Achilles tendon when he practiced with the Celtics' G League affiliate but said Tuesday there's  no timeline for his return to the NBA.

"I'm feeling good," Tatum told reporters in Boston. "It was good to be a part of practice (Monday) with the Maine G League guys. Today is 39 weeks (since surgery), so it's been a long journey, and it's just the progression of rehab.

"It was the next step. It doesn't mean that I'm coming back or I'm not. I'm just following the plan, so it's just another step."

Tatum was carried off the court in the fourth quarter of game four of the Celtics' Eastern Conference semi-finals loss to the New York Knicks and had surgery on May 13.

He surprised many in September when he said in an interview with NBC's Today Show that he hadn't ruled out a return this season.

The six-time NBA All-Star, who was a member of the USA's Olympic gold medal-winning teams at the Tokyo and Paris Games, has attended most of the team's games this season while continuing a rehab process he called "exhausting".

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum "looked good" in practice but also stressed it was just another step in the process.

"He's continuing to just chip away at the progression of his rehab, and it was great to see him take another step," Mazzulla said. "There's been a lot of steps and milestones along the way, starting from just walking, and it was great to see him get to the next one."

The Celtics are currently 34-19 and tied with the New York Knicks 5.5 games behind the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons.

Tatum recently told "The Pivot" podcast that he knew a late-season return could affect the chemistry of Boston's current lineup.

"Yeah, I mean, it might look different," Tatum said of his potential role.

"I haven't played with these guys or with this group, but (the Celtics have) lot of high-IQ guys out there. I like to consider myself one of those types of players.

"So if that did present itself, and if I did come back, we professionals will figure it out."

bb/rcw

Mikaela Shiffrin suffered more Winter Olympic pain on Tuesday after the US ski star failed to claim a medal in the women's team combined, bringing back memories of her disastrous performance at the Beijing Games four years ago.

America's top team were firm favourites to win gold after Breezy Johnson topped the times in the morning's downhill run, but Shiffrin stuttered through her slalom and the pair finished out of the medals, in fourth.

Shiffrin's unusually underpowered display in a discipline she has dominated for years allowed Austria's second-ranked duo of Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber to claim gold.

"I didn't quite find a comfort level that like allows me to produce full speed, so I'm going to have to learn what to do, what to adjust in the short time we have before the other tech races," Shiffrin told reporters.

She added: "There's something to learn from this day, and I'm going to learn it."

Johnson and Shiffrin, already world champions in the discipline, had a slender lead of 0.06sec over Austria 2's downhill specialist Raedler.

Shiffrin's World Cup form had been so good that the prospect of any other winners seemed impossible, but she was only 15th fastest down the slope in Cortina d'Ampezzo, her flop costing new downhill champion Johnson a second gold medal in northern Italy.

"We already celebrated the medal and when it was silver, it was more than OK," said Huber. "Now it's gold and it's unbelievable."

Shiffrin left Beijing without a single Olympic medal four years ago -- failing to finish three of six races -- and her disappointing display in her favoured discipline came in complete contrast to her form throughout this season.

- Pressure -

The 30-year-old, who previously won Olympic golds in slalom (2014) and giant slalom (2018) and a combined silver in Pyeongchang, has won a record 108 races on the World Cup circuit, including seven of this season's eight slalom races.

But she was a full second slower than Emma Aicher whose session-leading time of 44.38sec gave Germany silver, with Kira Weidle-Winkelmann having raced the downhill.

An American pairing did claim a medal, but it was the USA 2 pairing of Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan, who took bronze, the latter almost half a second faster than Shiffrin in the slalom run.

There will now be huge pressure on Shiffrin for next week's slalom, the final women's alpine skiing event at this year's Olympics.

Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin's main rival for slalom honours before suffering a knee ligament injury, made her return to competition after two years away but failed to finish her run.

There was also disappointment for Italy as only one of the host nation's four teams managed to complete the race.

Sofia Goggia, the downhill bronze medallist, lost control of her skis and skidded off the piste in the morning, thankfully keeping enough control to not smash into the netting.

And Laura Pirovano's impressive downhill run, the Italian finishing 0.27sec behind Johnson, was for nothing as Martina Peterlini was one of eight athletes to fail to complete the slalom. 

The team combined made a successful Olympic debut at the this year's Games, with Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen and Tanguy Nef winning the men's event on Monday.

It comprises two racers from the same nation racing a downhill and a slalom, with the fastest aggregate time earning the gold medal.

Countries are allowed to enter multiple teams in the event, with women's skiing powerhouses the USA, Switzerland, Italy and Austria each having four pairings entered on Tuesday.

td/lp

A dispute that saw South Korea's players threaten to boycott next month's Women's Asian Cup over "discriminatory conditions" has been resolved, football officials in the country said Tuesday.

South Korea's national women's squad last year complained of "poor" treatment by the Korea Football Association (KFA) compared to their male counterparts.

A statement from September, made public in January, said players would boycott games and training ahead of the Asian Cup if the KFA did not address their concerns over travel, training facilities and accommodation.

The KFA told AFP that the matter had "been resolved" and named a 26-player squad for the Asian Cup, which is being held in Australia and kicks off on March 1.

The KFA said that starting from this year, the association would provide business-class travel for all women's team squad members when long-haul travel was involved.

The association also said that they aim to "strengthen a sustainable support system that allows the players to perform at their best while taking pride in wearing the national colours".

The squad will convene at South Korea's national training centre on Sunday before leaving for Australia four days later.

The team have been drawn in a first-round group with the hosts, Iran and the Philippines.

Coach Shin Sang-woo's squad includes former Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun and US-born 18-year-old Casey Phair of Angel City FC.

Eight overseas-based players were named, including AC Milan's Park Soo-jeong.

South Korea open their campaign against Iran at the Gold Coast on March 2.

bur-amk/pst

Cade Cunningham scored 33 points as the Detroit Pistons ended the Charlotte Hornets' nine-game winning streak on Monday with a stormy 110-104 victory overshadowed by a mass brawl that saw four players ejected.

A bruising clash between the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons and the red-hot Hornets erupted into mayhem midway through the third quarter when Charlotte's Moussa Diabate fouled Detroit's Jalen Duren.

Diabate and Duren went forehead-to-forehead, and Duren angrily shoved his opponent away with a hand to the face.

That was the cue for a melee that saw scuffles and punches being thrown all over the court.

After a delay of several minutes, the officiating crew ejected Duren and Detroit team-mate Isaiah Stewart along with Charlotte pair Diabate and Miles Bridges.

Stewart had sprinted off the bench to join the fight, attempting to aim a blow at Bridges, who had thrown a punch at Duren as tempers flared.

There was a further flashpoint in the fourth quarter when Hornets head coach Charles Lee was ejected after reacting furiously at a foul given against his team. 

Lee needed to be restrained by other members of the Charlotte coaching staff before being led off the court.

- 'They crossed the line' -

Lee later praised his team's performance after they went toe-to-toe with the Pistons for long periods of the contest.

"That was a freaking great game for us," Lee said. "They are the number one team in the East and they bring a level of physicality and competitiveness to them.

"I think that overall our guys responded to every run that they went on, and all the physicality."

Asked about the clash between Diabate and Duren that triggered the fight, Lee said: "Two guys got in a heated conversation and then it kind of spiraled from there."

Of his own ejection in the fourth quarter, Lee added: "I gotta have a little bit better emotional control in that moment."

Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff pinned the blame for the flashpoint squarely on Charlotte's players, saying Duren had been defending himself.

"Our guys deal with a lot right?" Bickerstaff said. "But they're not the ones that initiated it... they crossed the line. 

"I hate that it got as ugly as it got. That's not something you ever want to see. But if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself and that's what happened tonight.

"Go back and watch the film. They're the ones that initiated crossing the line and our guy had to defend himself."

Detroit's victory lifted them to 39-13 at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, clear of the second-placed New York Knicks (34-19). Charlotte remain in 10th place on 25-29.

There were more ejections elsewhere Monday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves' Naz Reid and Atlanta's Mo Gueye getting tossed during an ugly melee in the fourth quarter of their game, which ended in a 138-116 victory for Minnesota.

In Los Angeles, the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 41-13 with a 119-110 defeat of the Lakers. Jalen Williams led the scoring with 23 points for the reigning NBA champions, who were once again missing the injured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

In Denver, Donovan Mitchell finished with 32 points and James Harden added 22 as the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a triple-double performance from Nikola Jokic to defeat the Nuggets 119-117. 

Jokic finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for Denver.

The Orlando Magic downed the Milwaukee Bucks 118-99 while the Utah Jazz upset the Miami Heat 115-111.

The Brooklyn Nets (15-37) also scored an upset with a 123-115 defeat of the Chicago Bulls.

rcw/pst

Manchester City can ramp up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal by cutting the gap at the top to just three points when they face Fulham on Wednesday, a day before the Gunners travel to in-form Brentford.

Arsenal remain in pole position for a first title in 22 years, but City's dramatic late rally to beat Liverpool on Sunday could prove a turning point for Pep Guardiola's men.

Another defeat damaged Liverpool's chances of Champions League qualification and Arne Slot's threadbare squad face another tough task in midweek away to Sunderland.

Tottenham and Newcastle are in even deeper trouble in the bottom half of the table, raising doubts over the future of respective managers Thomas Frank and Eddie Howe.

AFP Sports looks at three talking points from the midweek round of fixtures:

Can City provide title twist?

Bernardo Silva conceded even the City players thought the title race would have been all but over with had they not turned around a 1-0 deficit with six minutes remaining at Anfield.

The question now is whether a seismic win for Guardiola's side can be the launching pad towards another league title.

City have made a habit of finishing strongly in Guardiola's six title-winning seasons in England, but have won just two of their seven league games in 2026.

"We need to believe and to start winning games. This is what matters in the end," said Erling Haaland, who is demanding more of himself in the title run-in.

The Norwegian is the runaway leader for the Golden Boot but has scored just once from open play in his last 13 appearances.

"I haven't scored enough goals since the start of this year and I know that I need to improve," added Haaland.

With a favourable run of fixtures before Arsenal visit the Etihad in mid-April, City have the chance to really test the Gunners mettle in the run-in.

Mikel Arteta's men have bounced back from their own January wobble with four straight wins in all competitions.

But a buoyant Brentford that have lost just twice at home all season will provide a stiff test of Arsenal's title challenge.

Liverpool face tough trek to Sunderland

Last season's title winners look increasingly likely to miss out on the Champions League next season with Liverpool now four points adrift of the top five.

Worse could be still to come for Arne Slot as they travel to a Sunderland side boasting the only undefeated home record in the Premier League.

Already short of options due to a mounting injury list, the Reds will be without their star performer in a difficult season, Dominik Szoboszlai, after his controversial late red card against City.

With Manchester United and Chelsea having on paper easier tasks this week, Liverpool could find themselves cut further adrift to ramp up speculation on Slot's future.

Spurs 'desperate' to avoid relegation battle

It says much for the domination of the Champions League by English sides this season that both Tottenham and Newcastle cruised into the knockout stages but find themselves mired in the bottom half of the Premier League.

The sides meet in north London on Tuesday with Frank and Howe under the spotlight.

Frank admitted Spurs are the more "desperate", sitting just six points above the relegation zone in 15th.

The Dane has so far been handed a stay of execution despite repeated calls for his head by the Tottenham support.

Howe, by contrast, remains a much loved figure on Tyneside having ended the club's 70-year wait for a domestic trophy by lifting the League Cup last season and twice delivering Champions League football to St. James' Park.

He insisted on Monday he remains the right man for the job for now.

But with England and Manchester United reportedly interested in the 48-year-old, Howe may feel he has taken Newcastle as far as he can come the end of the season. 

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Tuesday

Chelsea v Leeds, Tottenham v Newcastle, Everton v Bournemouth (all 1930), West Ham v Man Utd (2015)

Wednesday

Aston Villa v Brighton, Crystal Palace v Burnley, Man City v Fulham, Nottingham Forest v Wolves (all 1930), Sunderland v Liverpool (2015)

Thursday

Brentford v Arsenal (2000)

kca/nf

US ski star Lindsey Vonn said on Monday she had suffered a "complex tibia fracture" when she crashed in the Winter Olympics downhill and would need "multiple surgeries".

"While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets," Vonn said on her social media, from the hospital in Italy where she is being treated.

Vonn, 41, insisted that the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament she suffered in a crash in a World Cup race before the Milan-Cortina Games "had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever".

"I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash," she added.

"I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly."

In her first statement since the crash, Vonn said: "My Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn't a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it.

"Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches."

Vonn crashed heavily just 13 seconds after starting her run. She was winched off the piste by a rescue helicopter and is being treated in a hospital in Treviso.

She had resumed her career in late 2024 after nearly six years in retirement and was considered a strong favourite for the downhill at these Olympics after recording seven World Cup podium finishes, including two wins, before her pre-Olympics crash in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

jr-gj/nf

Mikaela Shiffrin will make her debut at the 2026 Winter Olympics in the women's team combined after being paired with downhill gold winner Breezy Johnson, the USA's ski team announced on Monday.

Shiffrin and Johnson are reigning world champions in the discipline, which is making its Olympic bow at the Milan-Cortina Games, and they will be hot favourites for more gold on Tuesday in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The duo will take part in their specialist disciplines, with Shiffrin taking the slopes for Tuesday afternoon's slalom after Johnson completes the downhill in the morning.

Lindsey Vonn's horror crash out of Sunday's downhill final, won by Johnson, ended any possibility of her being half of a dream team with Shiffrin, the most successful skier of all-time.

Vonn underwent surgery on Sunday on a fracture in her left leg, which already had no anterior cruciate ligament, suffered during the heavy fall on the Olimpia delle Tofane piste.

Shiffrin arrives in Cortina d'Ampezzo with tough memories of her disastrous last Olympics in Beijing where she failed to claim a single medal.

The 30-year-old has won a record 108 races in the regular season World Cup, including seven of this term's eight slalom races.

gk/ig/td

Patriots prodigy Drake Maye was left longing for a do-over after his first Super Bowl appearance ended in misery on Sunday.

The 23-year-old came into the NFL championship clash with a chance to become the youngest ever quarterback to win the NFL's top prize.

But Maye was sacked six times and gave up two interceptions and a fumble as New England slumped to a one-sided 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

"I'd like to have the game back and go back to the beginning and redo it," admitted Maye.

Maye did manage two passing touchdowns, and both out-passed and out-rushed his victorious counterpart Sam Darnold by yardage.

But Maye faltered badly at key moments during Super Bowl LX. On a crucial play in the fourth quarter he was strip-sacked, allowing Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu to race into the end zone for a game-sealing touchdown.

Maye had failed to get the Patriots offense moving throughout, as New England was forced to punt away eight of its first nine possessions.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for a young man who had spoken to AFP before the game about wanting to be an "all-time great" and to emulate his illustrious Patriots predecessor Tom Brady.

"There were so many plays that could decide and change the game," Maye reflected after the stinging defeat.

"I have the fumble and they returned it for a touchdown.

"There were so many times in the first half when I felt like I could have made a better throw or make a better decision and just... it comes down to who makes the better plays and who doesn't.

"And they made the better plays tonight."

- 'Behind the chains' -

North Carolina-born Maye was the third overall pick in the 2024 draft, quickly becoming the Patriots' starting quarterback.

Despite its disappointing end, this season was undoubtedly Maye's breakout campaign.

He threw for 31 touchdowns in the regular season, managing the league-best completion percentage (72 percent) and yards per pass attempt (8.9), and rushed for four more.

Maye managed six more TDs in the playoffs, including three in a dominant win over the Houston Texans, and another two on Sunday.

He was the second-youngest starting quarterback to reach a Super Bowl, after Dan Marino with the Miami Dolphins in 1985.

But his sophomore season ultimately fell just short of being truly historic as a slow start doomed Maye's bid to lift the Lombardi Trophy.

"We were moving it solid the first couple drives and just had a couple negative plays that put us behind the chains," he said.

"And then from there we just couldn't stay ahead of the chains."

He added: "They had brought some pressure where they got us a few times."

"Just got to be better with the football and make better decisions.

"I've got to make better throws when the game is like that. I've got to make some throws to help us move the football."

amz/bb

Kenneth Walker III provided a crucial offensive spark in the Seattle Seahawks' defense-dominated victory over New England on Sunday to become the first running back in 29 years to be named Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.

Walker finished with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries and added 26 receiving yards on the way to bagging MVP honors in Seattle's 29-13 triumph at Levi's Stadium.

His 135 rushing yards were the most since Broncos running back Terrell Davis ran for 157 to be named MVP of Denver's upset win over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 32 in January 1998.

In a first half in which offensive fireworks were conspicuously absent, Walker delivered runs of 29 and 30 yards in the course of three plays to set up Seattle's second field goal.

When Seattle went into halftime with a 9-0 lead Walker had more than half of the offense's yards.

Walker reeled in a 20-yard catch and run to set up Seattle's fourth field goal and added runs of 14 and 10 yards to help Seattle take a 22-7 lead.

About the only thing missing from his stat line was a touchdown -- something he was denied when a 49-yard charge to the end zone was disallowed after a holding call on center Jalen Sundell.

"It's just a dream come true," Walker said. "Because a lot of people, they'll play their whole career and never make it this far. And they could, so it's a blessing."

Walker, drafted 41st overall by the Seahawks in 2022, said the victory was especially sweet for a Seattle team that powered through a tough NFC West division behind unheralded quarterback Sam Darnold -- who battled an oblique injury in the playoffs.

Walker himself shouldered an extra load with top running back Zach Charbonnet sidelined by a torn knee ligament suffered in a playoff win over San Francisco.

The Super Bowl marked Walker's third straight playoff game with 100-plus scrimmage yards, making him the only player in Seahawks history to accomplish that feat.

"We went through adversity this season, but we stayed together," Walker said. "We've got a brotherhood going right now and it's special."

bb/rcw