The Finals arrive on June sports calendar
The NBA and the NHL wrap up their respective seasons, while MLB and the WNBA carry on. Here’s a look at 10 highlights on the June sports calendar, including big events on the course and the track.
NBA Postseason (June 1-23)
The NBA Finals will get underway on Thursday, June 6, with the Boston Celtics playing host to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is set for June 9, with Game 3 on June 12, Game 4 on June 14, Game 5 on June 17, Game 6 on June 20, and Game 7 on June 23. The Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in four games to win the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Mavericks needed just five games to get past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Finals.
NHL Postseason (June 1-24)
The Stanley Cup final will get underway on Saturday, June 8 with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is set for June 10, with Game 3 on June 13, Game 4 on June 15, Game 5 on June 18, Game 6 on June 21, and Game 7 on June 24. The Stanley Cup final participants are still TBD heading into June, with the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers playing Game 6 of the Eastern final on June 1, and the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers playing Game 6 of the Western final on June 2. Deciding Game 7s of those series as necessary would then be played on June 3 and June 4.
MLB Regular Season (June 1-30)
Sunday, June 2 is recognized as Lou Gehrig Day around MLB; the Sunday Night Baseball matchup for the day has the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the St. Louis Cardinals. Other highlights on June’s MLB calendar include the Phillies playing the New York Mets in a two-game set in London on June 8-9, and the Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants meeting in Birmingham, Alabama on June 20.
WNBA Regular Season (June 1-30)
The WNBA’s June calendar opens on June 1 with one game on the schedule, as Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever play host to the Chicago Sky in a 12pm ET nationally televised matchup (ESPN). The Fever play the next night as well in New York against the Liberty, in a game to be shown on NBA TV.
UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier (June 1)
The UFC 302 card – taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark – is headlined by a lightweight championship bout between champion Islam Makhachev and challenger Dustin Poirier. Also on the card are middleweight fights between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa, and Kevin Holland and Michal Oleksiejczuk, along with a heavyweight matchup of Jailton Almeida vs. Alexander Romanov.
Belmont Stakes (June 8)
The Belmont Stakes won’t be run at Belmont Park in 2024 (or in 2025), with the race moving to Saratoga Race Course to accommodate construction at the Elmont facility. That means the race will be 1 ¼ miles instead of its usual 1 ½ miles because of the setup at Saratoga. Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Gray are both expected to compete.
Canadian Grand Prix (June 9)
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heads into the month of June with the lead in the F1 driver standings, and he’s also the two-time defending champion at the Canadian Grand Prix which hits the track on the second Sunday of the month at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Lewis Hamilton has won the Canadian Grand Prix seven times in his career; he most recently won the race back in 2019.
U.S. Open (June 13-16)
The 124th edition of golf’s U.S. Open, the third major tournament of the PGA Tour season, will take place at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina for the first time since 2014 – when Martin Kaymer won the event by eight strokes. Wyndham Clark was the U.S. Open champion last year at the Los Angeles Country Club in California, winning the tournament by a single stroke over Rory McIlroy.
NBA Draft (June 26-27)
The NBA Draft expands to two nights for 2024, with the first round taking place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on a Wednesday (June 26) and the second round taking place on a Thursday (June 27). The Atlanta Hawks hold the first pick in the draft, followed by the Washington Wizards and the Houston Rockets. Zaccharie Risacher (SF/Bourg) and Alex Sarr (PF/Perth) lead the draft rankings.
UFC 303: McGregor vs. Chandler (June 29)
Former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor hits the octagon for UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, taking on Michael Chandler in a welterweight matchup to headline the card. Other fights expected to take place include a light heavyweight bout between Jamahal Hill and Carlos Ulberg, and a bantamweight fight between Mayra Bueno Silva and Macy Chiasson.
With zero championships between his MLB, NHL, and NFL teams over the last 30 years, Dave keeps one foot in the past while shaking his fist at the present. Having provided content to all manner of sports websites over a 20-year career in the industry, Dave brings to Attiq an eye for all things editorial and a disdain for all things New York Yankees. Click here for Dave's posts.
Comments